Road and highways sector has maximum number of delayed projects: Report

The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 248, followed by railways at 116 and petroleum sector at 88, showed a government report.

In the road transport and highways sector, 248 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedule out of the 831 monitored, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for August 2022.

Similarly in railways, out of 173 monitored projects, 116 are delayed, while for petroleum, 88 out of 139 projects are delayed.

The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD) is mandated to monitor central sector infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above, based on the information provided on the Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) by the project implementing agencies. The IPMD comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The report showed that the Muneerabad-Mahaboobnagar rail project is the most delayed project. It is delayed by 276 months.

The second most delayed project is the Belapur-Seawood-Urban Electrified Double Line, which is delayed by 228 months. The third most delayed project is the Kotipalli-Narasapur rail project at 216 months.

About the road transport and highways sector, the report stated that the total original cost of implementation of the 831 projects, when sanctioned, was Rs 4,92,741.89 crore but this was subsequently anticipated at Rs 5,40,815.51 crore, implying a cost overrun of 9.8 per cent.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till August 2022 was Rs 3,21,001 crore, or 59.4 per cent of the anticipated cost.

About railways, it said the total original cost of implementation of 173 projects was RDs 3,72,761.45 crore but this was subsequently anticipated at Rs 6,19,569.99 crore, implying a cost overrun of 66.2 per cent.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till August 2022 was Rs 3,43,528.75 crore, or 55.4 per cent of the anticipated cost.

In the petroleum sector, the total original cost of implementation of 139 projects was Rs 3,66,013.55 crore but this was subsequently anticipated at Rs 3,86,263.94 crore, showing a cost overrun of 5.5 per cent.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till August 2022 was Rs 1,36,450.2 crore, or 35.3 per cent of the anticipated cost.