Nearly 65% of infrastructure projects delayed by Covid-induced lockdowns

Of these projects, 438 reported cost overruns and 218 had both time and cost overruns, showed a flash report on central sector projects released by MoSPI

As many as 563 central sector infrastructure projects, comprising 65 per cent of the total 862 having definite timelines, were running behind schedule as on October 1 this year due to Covid-induced lockdowns in states and delays in land acquisition among  other factors, official data showed. The projects taken up for monitoring cost at least Rs 150 crore.

On the other hand, only 287 projects, accounting for 33 per cent of the total, had time overruns. Only 12 projects were ahead of schedule.

While there were a total 1,670 projects, the year of commission was not available for 808. In fact, the tentative gestation period was also not available for these 808 projects.

Of these projects, 438 reported cost overruns and 218 had both time and cost overruns, showed a flash report on central sector projects released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The total original cost of implementation of the 1,670 projects was Rs 21.66 trillion and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 25.97 trillion, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4.31 trillion or 19.89 per cent of the original cost.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till September this year was Rs 12.54 trillion, which is 48.31 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

The average time overrun in these 563 delayed projects was 47 months.

As many as 72 projects  have reported additional delays vis-à-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month. Of these 72 projects, 20 are mega projects costing Rs 1, 000 crore and above.

Maximum number of 148 projects which reported delays as compared to their original schedule were in the road, transport and the highways sectors followed by  145 in the railways, 85 in petroleum, 60 in coal and 43 in power.

Of the 563 delayed projects, 100 or 17.76 per cent reported delays in the range of one month to a year, 120 (21.31 per cent) in the range of 13 months to two years, 216 (38.7) in the range of 25 months to five years and 127 (22.56) in the range of 61 months and above.

MoSPI has urged the administrative ministries concerned to review the projects in order to avoid further cost and time overruns.