Centrally funded infra projects saw cost overruns swell to 22% in Nov

Cost overruns in centrally funded infrastructure projects widened to 22.2% in November, pushing revised project costs to ₹29.55 trillion, Mospi data showed

Aggregate costs of centrally funded infrastructure projects widened to 22.2 per cent in November as cost overruns pushed revised estimates to ₹29.55 trillion from ₹24.18 trillion across 823 ongoing projects, representing a marginal worsening from October, when cost overruns stood at 20.9 per cent.   This reflects an absolute escalation of ₹5.37 trillion, up from ₹5.3 trillion a month earlier, data from the latest Flash Report on Central Sector Infrastructure Projects costing ₹150 crore and above by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) showed. 

The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation continued to report the steepest overrun among individual ministries, with revised costs more than doubling initial estimates and recording an overrun of ₹99,853.8 crore, a 102 per cent jump, unchanged from October levels. The Department of Telecommunications followed with a 79.9 per cent overrun amounting to ₹1.22 trillion, while the Ministry of Mines registered an escalation of nearly 27.7 per cent (₹2,380.14 crore).  

The Ministry of Railways, which accounts for the largest share of ongoing central projects, saw costs rise 22.1 per cent over the original outlay, up from 17.8 per cent in October, translating to an overrun of about ₹1.53 trillion. Similarly, projects under 

Power, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Health and Family Welfare saw costs rise by 16.5 per cent, 15.6 per cent and 11.4 per cent, respectively. 

In contrast, only a handful of ministries, such as Higher Education and Sports, reported savings, with their revised expenditures remaining below the original estimates by 1.3 per cent and 32.5 per cent, respectively.