Centrally funded infrastructure projects log 17.02% cost jump in February

Cost overruns in centrally funded infrastructure projects rose to 17.02 per cent in February, pushing revised estimates to Rs 42.5 trillion across 1,948 ongoing projects

Aggregate cost of centrally funded infrastructure projects jumped 15.6 per cent in February as cost-overruns pushed revised estimates to ₹41.9 trillion from their original cost of ₹36.3 trillion across 1,948 ongoing projects, said a report.

 

The latest Flash Report on central-sector infrastructure projects by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) is for projects costing ₹150 crore and above.

 

The cost-overrun in February increased sequentially from 16.4 per cent in January across the same ministries and departments, though it remained lower than the 18.3 per cent recorded in December 2025. Excluding the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the overruns stood at 22.2 per cent in November.

 

 

In absolute terms, cost escalation was ₹5.66 trillion in February from original estimates, up from ₹5.53 trillion in January and ₹5.42 trillion recorded in December 2025.

 

The Ministry of Jal Shakti’s Department of Water Resources, River Development, and Ganga Rejuvenation continued to report the steepest overrun among individual ministries. The revised cost stood at ₹2.26 trillion and recorded an overrun of ₹1.04 trillion, an 85.2 per cent jump.

 

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications followed with an 80.36 per cent overrun amounting to ₹1.22 trillion, while the Ministry of Mines registered an escalation of nearly 27.7 per cent or ₹2,380.14 crore.

 

MoRTH, which accounted for the largest share of ongoing central projects, saw its cost rising 2.72 per cent over the original outlay, translating into an overrun of about ₹27,891 crore.

 

Similarly, projects under Health and Family Welfare, Railways, Steel, and Petroleum & Natural Gas saw costs rise by 24.4 per cent, 21.7 per cent, 16.6 per cent, and 15 per cent, respectively.

 

In contrast, only a handful of ministries, such as Higher Education and Sports, reported savings. Their revised expenditures were below the original estimates by 1.75 per cent and 32.5 per cent, respectively.