377 infra projects show major cost exceeds

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has revealed that 377 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns of more than Rs 3.94 lakh crore owing to delays and other reasons. “Total original cost of implementation of the 1635 projects was Rs 19,47,462.67 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 23,41,784.84 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,94,322.17 crore (20.25 per cent of original cost),” the report observed.

Further, 565 projects reported time escalation due to reasons like delays in land acquisition, fund constraints, geological surprises, geo-mining conditions, slow progress in civil works, shortage of labour, inadequate mobilisation by the contractor, Maoist problems, court cases, contractual issues, ROU/ROW (right of use/right of way) problems, law and order situation, forest clearance and supply of equipment