Three railway projects have been delayed by more than 225 months, with one delayed by as many as 276 months or 23 years, according to a government report which tracks the progress and cost overruns of projects worth above Rs 150 crore.

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The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 407 of the 717 projects, followed by railways at 114 out of the 173 and the petroleum industry at 86 of 146, , as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for February 2023.

The most delayed project according to the report was the Muneerabad-Mahaboobnagar rail project, which is delayed by 276 months or 23 years.

This was followed by the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project with 247 months of delay and Belapur-Seawood-Urban Electrified Double Line which is running 228 months behind schedule.

The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD), which is under the Ministry of Statistics, monitors the status of 1,418 central infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above based on the information provided on the Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) by the project implementing agencies. The latest Flash Report was issued for February 2023.

As many as 823 projects are delayed, 346 projects reported cost overrun and 242 projects reported both times and cost overrun with respect to their original project implementation schedules.

A total of 823 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedules and 159 projects have reported additional delays vis-a-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month.

Of these 159 projects, 38 are mega projects costing Rs 1,000 crore and above.

Costs of projects rise by upto 60%

About the road transport and highways sector, the report stated that the total original cost of implementation of 717 projects, when sanctioned, was Rs 3,97,255.47 crore but this was subsequently estimated to be Rs 4,14,400.44 crore, implying a cost overrun of 4.3 per cent.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till February 2023 is Rs 2,33,007.06 crore, which is 56.2 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

Similarly, in railways, the total original cost of implementation of 173 projects, when sanctioned, was Rs 3,72,761.45 crore but this was subsequently anticipated to be Rs 6,26,632.52 crore, implying a cost overrun of 68.1 per cent.

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The expenditure incurred on these projects till February 2023 is Rs 3,79,380.95 crore, which is 60.5 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

About the petroleum sector, it said, the total original cost of implementation of 146 projects, when sanctioned, was Rs 3,67,615.67 crore but this was subsequently anticipated to be Rs 3,85,117.08 crore, implying a cost overrun of 4.8 per cent.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till February 2023 is Rs 1,44,162.3 crore, which is 37.4 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

(With agencies inputs)

(Edited by : Pradeep John)

First Published:Apr 9, 2023 4:11 PM IST