458 Union Govt Projects Hit by Cost Overrun of Rs 5.71 Lakh Crore, 831 Facing Delays

New Delhi: Of the 1,817 ongoing infrastructural projects of the Union government, 458 projects are hit by cost overrun to the tune of Rs 5.71 lakh crore and 831 projects are delayed, according to a report by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation.

Each of these projects is Rs 150 crore or above, and the data put out by the report takes into account the situation until May, Business Standard reported.

While the total original cost of implementing these 1,817 projects was estimated to be Rs 27,58,567.23 crore, their anticipated completion cost was expected to be Rs 33,29,647.99 crore. The jump in completion cost by Rs 5,71, 080.76 crore translates into 20.70% additional cost for the government, the ministry's latest report for May 2024 indicated.

By May, the expenditure incurred on these projects stood at Rs 1,707,190.15 crore, accounting for 51.3% of the anticipated cost of the projects.

Out 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 of these projects comes up to 35.1 months.

The ministry's report, however, adds that if the latest schedule of completion (as opposed to the one at the start of the projects), the number of delayed projects has come down to 554.

According to project implementing agencies, the reasons for delay include land acquisition, environmental clearance, financial issues, contractual/internal issues, manpower shortage and litigation issues.

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