403 infra projects show cost overruns of Rs 4.05 lakh crore

"Total original cost of implementation of the 1,686 projects was Rs 20,66,771.94 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 24,71,947.66 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of 4,05,175.72 crore (19.60 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for March 2020 said.

The expenditure incurred on these projects until March 2020 is 11,20,696.16 crore, which is 45.34 percent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, it said that the number of delayed projects decreases to 452 if the delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion.

Further, it said that for 857 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported.

Out of 530 delayed projects, 155 have overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 114 have a delay of 13 to 24 months, 148 reflect a delay in the range of 25 to 60 months and 113 projects show a delay of 61 months and above.

The average time overrun in these 530 delayed projects is 41.16 months.

The brief reasons for time overruns as reported by various project implementing agencies are delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest/environment clearances and lack of infrastructure support & linkages.

Besides there are other reasons like delay in tie-up of project financing, delay in finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, delay in tendering, ordering and equipment supply, law and order problems, geological surprises, pre-commissioning teething troubles and contractual issues, among others, the report said.

It also observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, indicating that time or cost overrun figures are under-reported.