Fast-tracking infrastructure: Further reductions in delays are needed

The Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI) platform has helped in accelerating the implementation of stalled infrastructure by digitally integrating project monitoring, inter-ministerial and Centre-state coordination, and resolution of a variety of issues pertaining to land and environment. The progress was reviewed in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week. Since 2015, PRAGATI has helped over 3,300 delayed projects, worth ₹85 trillion. This matters because delays in public infrastructure continue to impose high economic costs. The data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for November last year showed cost overruns in centrally funded projects had widened by 22.2 per cent, pushing the revised costs to nearly ₹29.55 trillion and absolute overruns to ₹5.37 trillion across 823 ongoing projects. Such slippages are not just accounting problems. They lock up public capital, postpone economic returns, and weaken the growth impact, which infrastructure spending is meant to deliver. The reasons for these delays are well known and largely structural; much of this stems from land acquisition, which alone accounts for around 35 per cent of project delays, followed by environmental clearances at about 20 per cent. Right-of-way issues, shifting utilities, and inter-ministerial disputes add to the problem. At their core, these are coordination failures between the Centre and states, among ministries, and among regulators and executing agencies. 

PRAGATI has shown that some of these failures can be overcome through sustained oversight. Its strength lies in combining real-time data, drone imagery, and video-conferencing to promote oversight, coordination, and problem-solving. Importantly, the platform has not functioned as a standalone review mechanism. It has worked in close coordination with other digital governance platforms such as PM Gati Shakti, which improves upfront planning and inter-agency coordination; the Proactive and Responsive Facilitation by Interactive and Virtuous Environmental Single-window Hub (PARIVESH), which streamlines environmental clearances; and the Project Monitoring Group (PMG), which ensures followups after decisions are taken. Together, these platforms with direct oversight from the Prime Minister’s Office have helped loosen bottlenecks and move project management from being fragmented, paper-based processes to becoming a more integrated and time-bound system. 

However, the persistence of large cost overruns suggests that oversight alone is not enough. The next step is to institutionalise its mechanisms beyond reviews so that faster decision-making becomes routine. This requires deeper state ownership, stronger digital capacity at the district and departmental levels, and stricter sequencing of approvals, especially ensuring prior environmental clearances through PARIVESH. Also, there is a growing push to broaden its mandate from tracking scheme outputs to assessing real outcomes. Scaling up social services nationwide demands infrastructure that is not only put in place but also maintained. This requires local implementing agencies to have sufficient funding, support, and capacity. The government has significantly increased capital expenditure in recent years. If the economy is to gain from higher capital expenditure, it is critical that projects on the ground are completed in time. Delays mean the government has to borrow more, which increases overall costs in several ways.