Cost of 412 projects in infrastructure sector increased by Rs 4.77 lakh crore: Report – Dainik Savera Times
New Delhi: The cost of 412 infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore or more has increased by more than Rs 4.77 lakh crore from the estimated cost till August this year. A report said that the cost of these projects has increased due to delays and other reasons. The Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation monitors infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore or more.
The ministry’s August 2023 report said that out of 1,762 such projects, 412 have had cost overruns, while 830 other projects are delayed. According to the report, “The original cost of implementation of these 1,762 projects was Rs 25,01,400.62 crore but now it is estimated to increase to Rs 29,78,681.31 crore.”
This shows that the cost of these projects has increased by 19.08 percent i.e. Rs 4,77,280.69 crore. According to the report, till August 2023, Rs 15,57,188.10 crore has been spent on these projects, which is 52.28 percent of the total estimated cost. However, the ministry has said that if the recent timeline for completion of projects is taken into account, the number of delayed projects will come down to 624.
The year of commencement of 339 projects is not given in the report. The report said that out of the 830 projects that are delayed, 194 projects are delayed by one month to 12 months, 190 projects are delayed by 13 to 24 months, 323 projects are delayed by 25 to 60 months and 123 projects are delayed by more than 60 months. The average delay in these 830 projects is 36.96 months.
The main reasons for delay in these projects are delay in land acquisition, delay in getting approvals from Environment and Forest Department and lack of infrastructure. Apart from this, due to financing of the project, delay in actualizing the detailed engineering, change in the possibilities of the project, delay in the tender process, delay in awarding contracts and sourcing of equipment, legal and other problems, unexpected land changes etc. Projects have been delayed.
