Delayed Infrastructure Projects in India
Out
of 1,681 infrastructure projects, 408 had cost overruns and 814 were delayed,
according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, which
monitors projects with an investment of 150 crore or more. In May 2023, 408
infrastructure projects had cost overruns of more than 4.80 lakh crore, and 384
infrastructure projects had cost overruns of USD568393.20 million (Rs. 4.66
lakh crore) in the March quarter.
The
Ministry's most recent report for May 2023 stated that the total cost overruns
of USD58556.10 million (Rs 4,80,074.87 crore) (19.8 6% of the original cost)
reflect overall cost overruns of USD294792.60 million (Rs 24,16,872.28 crore),
and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be USD353348.70 million (Rs
28,96,947.15 crore). Up until May 2023, these projects cost USD185881.30 million
(Rs. 15,23,957.33) crore, or 52.61 percent of what was expected to be spent on
them.
However,
it stated that if delay was determined based on the most recent completion
schedule, the number of delayed projects would decrease to 607. In addition, it
stated that neither the tentative gestation period nor the year of
commissioning have been reported for 419 projects. Out of the 814 projects that
have been delayed, 200 have been delayed for a total of one to twelve months,
183 have been delayed for thirteen to twenty-four months, 300 have been delayed
for 25 to sixty months, and 131 have been delayed for more than sixty months.
These 814 delayed projects have an average overrun of 37.04 months.
According to various agencies responsible for
implementing the project, delays in land acquisition, the acquisition of
environmental and forest clearances, and a lack of infrastructure support and
links are the causes of time extensions. Other factors included problems with
law and order, a change in scope, tendering, equipment supply, and finalization
of detailed engineering, as well as delays in tie-up for project financing. The
report also mentioned the state-wide COVID-19 lockdowns that were imposed in
2020 and 2021 as a reason for the delay in putting these projects into action.
For many projects, it has also been noticed that project executing agencies are
not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules, which
suggests that time/cost overrun figures are not being reported properly.