Report says 122 projects are delayed by more than 61 months
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation 462 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs.150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs.4.36 lakh crore, or 19.53% of the original cost.
Of the 1,737 such projects, 557 were delayed, according to the Ministry’s report monitoring infrastructure projects.
“Total original cost of implementation of the 1,737 projects was Rs.22,33,409.53 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs.26,69,649.35 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs.4,36,239.82 crore,” Press Trust of India reported citing, the ministry’s latest report for March 2021.
The expenditure incurred on these projects till March 2021 is Rs.13,06,617.54 crore, which is 48.94% of the anticipated cost of these projects, said the report on 2 May 2021.
It said 114 projects out of the 557 delayed projects are behind completion schedule by about one month to 12 months, 131 projects are off deadlines by 13 to 24 months, 190 projects are delayed by 25-60 months and 122 projects are delayed by 61 months and above.
The projects were delayed due to delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure support and linkages.
Other reasons for the delayed projects are delay in tie-up for financing, delay in finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, delay in tendering, ordering and equipment supply, and law and order problems as well as others.
The report also cited ‘state-wise lockdown due to COVID-19’ as a reason for the delay in implementation of these projects.
It has also been observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures are underreported, PTI had the report as saying. #tenders #delayed #contracts #projects #financing #banking /fiinews.com
