Cost overruns of Rs 4.7 lakh crore in 386 infrastructure projects

As many as 386 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 4.7 lakh crore, as per a report. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors infrastructure projects of Rs 150 crore and above, out of 1,505 projects, 386 reported cost overruns and as many as 661 projects were delayed. Total original cost of implementation of the 1505 projects was Rs 21,21,793.23 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 25,92,537.79 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,70,744.56 crore (22.19% of original cost. According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till July 2022 was Rs 13,50,275.69 crore, or 52.08 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. However, the number of delayed projects decreases to 511 if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. Further, it showed that for 581 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported.