Delayed 241 infra projects cause cost overrun of Rs 1.6 lakh crore

The cost of as many as 241 infrastructure projects, monitored by the Statistics Ministry, has overrun by Rs 1.59 lakh crore from their original estimates due to delays in land acquisition, forest clearances and other reasons.

The Statistics Ministry monitored 1,076 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150crore or more across sectors such as power, railways and roads in May, 2016. Total original cost of implementation of the 1,076 projects was Rs 12,69,688.04 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 14,28,703.39 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 1,59,015.35 crore.

As per the Statistics Ministry, during May 2016, out of 1,076 projects, 241 projects reported cost overruns, 4 projects are ahead of schedule, 252 are on schedule, 330 are delayed and 70 projects reported both time and cost overrun with respect to their original project implementation schedules.

Out of 330 delayed projects, 63 projects have overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 59 projects have delay in the range of 13 to 24 months, 142 projects have delay in the range of 25 to 60 months and 66 projects have delay of 61 months and above. Speedy implementation of projects assumes significance in view of government's push to move towards high growth trajectory of over 8 per cent and touch double digit mark in few years.

In April 2016, out of 1061 projects, 241 projects reported cost overruns and 326 projects reported time overruns, while during May 2016, out of 1,076 projects, 241 projects reported cost overruns and 330 projects reported time overruns.