293 delayed projects led to cost overrun of Rs 68K cr

The delay in 293 major projects in the country have resulted in cost overrun of over Rs 68,000 crore, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

The estimated cost of these delayed projects was Rs 3,06,157.87 crore which has been revised to 3,74,431.04, Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation M S Gill said in a written reply

Of the 559 projects costing Rs 150 crore and above, as many as 293 such projects were delayed causing cost overrun to the tune of Rs 68,273.17 crore, he said.

Of these projects delayed beyond the original stipulated time, the highest number of 111 projects belong to road and transport sector, with such projects in Railways totalling 25, he said.

Gill said Railway projects are witnessing the maximum delay ranging from three to 225 months, followed by road transport and highways projects with time overrun of one to 90 months.

Among others, there are 41 power projects which are delayed by one to 83 months. The original estimates of these projects was 1,05,637.36 crore, which has been revised to 1,10,225.38 crore.

However, there are just two such delayed projects in the area of urban development with a cost overrun of over Rs 15,000 crore.

The estimated cost of these two projects was Rs 15,071 which has been revised upwards to Rs 30,503.36 crore.

The time lag in coal projects are also very high which ranges from eight to 64 months. The estimated cost of 18 such projects have been revised upwards to Rs 15,387.21 crore from Rs 13,227.46 crore.

In the petroleum sector, the number of delayed projects are 33 and they are running behind schedule by one to 74 months. The total cost of these projects has been revised to Rs 58,558.19 crore, from Rs 40,415.32 crore originally envisaged.