Delays in 835 projects cost govt over Rs 4.5 trn, Railways' overrun highest

Reasons relate to land acquisition, obtaining forest/environment clearances, lack of infra support

Delays in more than 800 government projects led to cost overruns of Rs 4.5 trillion as of December 2022, according to data shared in the Rajya Sabha this week.

The government planned 1,438 projects with an original cost of Rs 20.4 trillion. Their cost has increased to Rs 24.9 trillion as of December 2022: primarily due to delays in 835 projects, said Rao Inderjit Singh, minister of state with independent charge of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).

A 'Business Standard' analysis of MOSPI data shows that the share of delayed projects in total increased from 26.6 per cent in April 2019 to 58.1 per cent in December 2022. The share of delayed projects was the lowest in April 2018 at 19 per cent.

Total government projects increased from 727 in April 2014 to 1438 in December 2022; more than half of which were reported to be delayed as of December 2022. “The average time overrun in these 835 delayed projects is 40.5 months,” according to the government’s Flash Report on Central Sector Projects, December 2022.
 

Delays were attributed to land acquisition, obtaining forest/environment clearances, lack of infrastructure support and linkages, according to the report.

Analysis shows that cost overruns as a percentage of original cost increased from 19.96 per cent in December 2020 to 22.12 per cent in December 2022. Overrun is calculated by subtracting the original cost from the anticipated cost of a project.
 

In December 2022, Railways recorded the highest cost overrun at Rs 2.53 trillion, followed by power (0.53 trillion) and water resources (0.46 trillion). In the previous year as well, the three sectors had the maximum cost overrun compared to other sectors.