Plan Ahead For Projects: Ministry

The ministry of programme implementation has said infrastructure projects should be taken up only after analysing the state of preparedness of the agencies concerned.

It also said issues like fuel linkages, fund availability and management should be looked into before implementation. Projects should be taken up only after receiving assurances on land and infrastructure facilities, it added.

The ministry's suggestions come in the wake of recent cost overruns in 215 major projects, where costs rose 17.5 per cent over sanctioned amounts.

Delay in sanctioning projects after they are conceived is one of the reasons responsible for time overruns, which in turn leads to cost overruns.

The ministry identified several reasons for time overruns. These include:

lsanctions without fixing techno-economic parameters

luncertainty about the availability of land

lsanctions in excess of financial resources

linadequate delegation of powers to field-level executives

lpoor performance of consultants, vendors and contractors

linflationary pressure

lincrease in administrative overheads

ldepreciation of the rupee

The ministry in its annual report has said only 98 of the 191 projects scheduled to be completed by March 31, 1998 met the deadline. As on March 31, 44 per cent of central projects were running behind schedule.

It also said the process of project monitoring and evaluation should be reviewed and a computerised monitoring system introduced at the project management level.

The ministry carries out quarterly evaluation of government projects that cost over Rs 20 crore and sends a monthly report on projects costing over Rs 100 crore to the Prime Minister's office.