As many as 432 infrastructure projects, each worth at least Rs 150 crore, have reported total cost overruns of over Rs 4.29 lakh crore, according to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

According to the data, as of August 1, 2020, out of the 1,670 central sector infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above, 8 projects are ahead of schedule, 212 are on schedule, 505 are delayed, 432 have reported cost overrun and 202 projects reported both time and cost overrun with respect to their original project implementation schedules.

“Total original cost of implementation of the 1,670 projects was Rs 20,58,193.26 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 24,87,361.54 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,29,168.28 crore (20.85 per cent of original cost),” the report said.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till July 2020 is over Rs 11.51 lakh crore, which is 46.28 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects. The ‘Flash Report On Central Sector Projects’ noted that the number of delayed projects however, decreases to 418 if delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion. Further, for 945 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported, it said.

Out of 505 delayed projects, 120 projects have overall delay in the range of 1 to 12 months, 118 projects have delay in the range of 13 to 24 months, 157 projects have delay in the range of 25 to 60 months and 110 projects have delay of 61 months and above. The average time overrun in these 505 delayed projects is 43.49 months.