As many as 458 infra projects hit by cost overrun of Rs 5.71 lakh crore in May

As many as 458 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or above, were hit by a cost overrun of more than Rs 5.71 lakh crore in May this year, according to an official report.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), which monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,817 projects, 458 reported cost overruns and 831 projects were delayed.

The total original cost of implementation of 1,817 projects was Rs 27,58,567.23 crore, and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 33,29,647.99 crore, which reflects an overall cost overrun of over Rs 5,71,080.76 (20.70 per cent of original cost), the ministry's latest report for May 2024 showed.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till May 2024 is Rs 1,707,190.15 crore, which is 51.3 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, the number of delayed projects decreased to 554, provided the delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion, it added.

Of the 831 delayed projects, 245 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 188 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 271 projects for 25-60 months, and 127 projects for more than 60 months.

The average time overrun in these 831 delayed projects is 35.1 months.

Reasons for time overrun, as reported by various project implementing agencies, include land acquisition, environmental clearance, financial issues, contractual/internal issues, manpower shortage and litigation issues.