The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) in its report has said that as many as 431 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, were hit by cost overrun of more than Rs 4.82 lakh crore in December 2023. Out of 1,820 projects, 431 reported cost overrun and 848 projects were delayed.
According to the report, total original cost of implementation of the 1,820 projects was Rs 25,87,066.08 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 30,69,595.88 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,82,529.80 crore (18.65 per cent of original cost). The expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2023 is Rs 16,26,813.80 crore, which is 53 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreased to 638, if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion.
Further, it said that for 298 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. Out of the 848 delayed projects, 202 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 200 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 323 projects for 25-60 months, and 123 projects have been delayed for more than 60 months. The average time overrun in these 848 delayed projects stood at 36.59 months.
