NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India has released an official report stating that 393 infrastructure projects- each entailing an investment of ₹150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of around ₹4.64 lakh crore in June 2023.
According to the report, out of 1,643 infrastructural projects valued at more than ₹150 crore, 393 reported cost overruns, and 815 projects delayed.
The report read, “Total original cost of implementation of the 1,643 projects was ₹23, 86,687.07 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be ₹28,51,556.84 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of ₹4,64,869.77 crore (19.48 per cent of original cost).
It highlighted that the expenditure incurred till June 2023 on these projects was ₹14, 99,771.71 crore – 52.59 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. Further, the report stated that for 336 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative period has been reported.
Out of the 815 delayed projects, 193 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 192 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 293 projects for 25-60 months and 137 projects have been delayed for more than 60 months. The average time overrun in these 815 delayed projects was 37.49 months.
Reasons for the delay of these projects have been stated as delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances and lack of infrastructure support and linkages. Other reasons for delaying these projects are project financing, finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, tendering, ordering, equipment supply, and law and order problems.
Lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic were cited as another reason for the delay in the implementation of these projects.