408 infrastructure projects show cost overruns of ₹4.80 lakh crore in May

Out of 1,681 projects, 408 reported cost overruns and as many as 814 projects were delayed

As many as 408 infrastructure projects, each entailing an investment of ₹150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than ₹4.80 lakh crore in May 2023, an official report said.

According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which monitors infrastructure projects worth ₹150 crore and above, out of 1,681 projects, 408 reported cost overruns and as many as 814 projects were delayed.

"Total original cost of implementation of the 1,681 projects was Rs 24,16,872.28 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 28,96,947.15 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,80,074.87 crore (19.86 per cent of original cost)," the Ministry's latest report for May 2023 said.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till May 2023 was ₹15,23,957.33 crore, which was 52.61% of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, it stated that the number of delayed projects decreased to 607 if delay was calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion.

Further, it stated for 419 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported.

Out of the 814 delayed projects, 200 have overall delays in the range of 1-12 months, 183 have been delayed for 13-24 months, 300 projects for 25-60 months and 131 projects have been delayed for more than 60 months.