New Delhi: The share of delayed Union government projects has skyrocketed to 56.7% in March 2023, the highest figure in around 20 years, according to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s monthly flash reports published by the Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division compiled by Business Standard.
There are 1,449 Union government projects underway of more than Rs 150 crore, according to the ministry’s flash report. As of March 2023, projects have had a time overrun of over three years on average.
The projects are now expected to cost 22.02% more than the originally estimated costs. In absolute terms, this means an additional expenditure of Rs 4.6 trillion – or more than 120 times the money spent on completing the Konkan Railway project which cost Rs 3,550 crore in 1997, reports the newspaper. The cost overruns were last this high in percentage terms under the previous NDA government in 2004.
The Indian Railways has the major share of delayed projects and it accounted for Rs 2.5 trillion in cost overruns. It is followed by projects in the power sector (Rs 0.6 trillion) and water resources (Rs 0.5 trillion), reports Business Standard.
The share of delayed central government projects hit a low of 19.3% in 2018 but it had not been as high under the UPA government under Dr Manmohan Singh as it is now under the Modi government. The delay in the UPA-era had been blamed on policy paralysis within the government.