Infra ministries told to review delayed projects

Cabinet Secretariat directs review meetings should lay more emphasis on projects delayed by more than six months & have cost overruns of Rs 100 cr

Alarmed at huge cost overruns due to delays in central infrastructure projects, the Cabinet Secretariat has directed the secretaries of all ministries concerned to hold review meetings for projects under their domain on a monthly basis. It added these meetings should lay more emphasis on projects delayed by more than six months and for which cost overruns exceeded Rs 100 crore.

It also directed the secretaries to fix responsibilities for time and cost overruns and take action against those held responsible.

According to information complied by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi), of the 720 central infrastructure projects worth at least Rs 150 crore each, 295 have seen delays. The total project implementation cost for these projects has increased 19.10 per cent compared to the initial estimate of Rs 927,317 crore.

The Cabinet Secretariat also directed that every major milestone for these projects should be entered into Mospi's online monitoring system for projects worth more than Rs 150 crore. Ministries also have to ensure physical and financial progress against these milestones is updated every month.

The government said lack of detailed project planning and slackness in periodical reviews led to delays in many infrastructure projects.