47 mega projects running behind schedule

- Original cost of 1,438 projects was Rs2,035,794.75 cr

- Completion cost likely to be Rs2,486,069.52cr

- Overall cost overruns of Rs450,274.77 cr (22.12%)

- 8 projects ahead of schedule, 253 are on schedule

New Delhi: As many as 49 infrastructure projects were completed in December 2022. And 46 of them were in the road sector, two in petroleum and one in power. As many as 23 projects were added to the list of projects worth Rs150 crore or more.

In total, there were 1,438 such projects, of which 835 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedules and 174 have reported additional delays vis-à-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month. Of these 174 projects, 47 are mega projects costing Rs1,000 crore and above, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

The total original cost of implementation of the 1,438 projects was Rs2,035,794.75 crore, but the completion cost now anticipated is likely to be Rs2,486,069.52 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs450,274.77 crore (22.12 per cent of the original cost). The expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2022 is Rs1,345,794.16 crore, which is 54.13 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

Out of the 1,438 projects, eight projects are ahead of schedule, 253 are on schedule, 343 projects reported cost overruns and 165 projects reported both time and cost overruns with respect to their original project implementation schedules. However, the number of delayed projects decreases to 673 if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion, sources said.

For 342 projects, neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported. Of the 835 delayed projects, 160 have overall delays in the range of one to 12 months, 134 in the range of 13 to 24 months, 411 in 25 to 60 months, and 130 in more than 60 months.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation monitors the milestones of various infrastructure projects. The project authorities are regularly requested to enter the list of milestones for each project to facilitate better monitoring. However, not all the project agencies are reporting or providing the list of milestones, sources said.