Cost overruns of central government projects decline in August to 19.08%
central government projects worth Rs 150 crore and above declined for a fourth consecutive month to 19.1% in August compared with 19.5% in the previous month.
Of the 1,762 projects listed the anticipated cost at Rs 29.8 lakh crore exceeded the original cost by Rs 4.8 lakh crore, the report released Tuesday pointed out.
Nearly half of the projects were delayed on August.
«The average time overrun in these 830 delayed projects is 36.96 months,» the MoSPI report noted, highlighting that 54% of the projects were delayed for over two years.
The average time overrun had also reduced from last month by nearly a month.
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Railways faced the highest cost overruns among the ministry with 137 of 260 projects facing time overruns. While the roads ministry which accounts for 945 projects, 185 projects faced overrun.
The report pointed that a lot of ministries were not reporting correct time schedules.
«It has also been observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures may be underreported,» the ministry stated.
The ministry also pointed that the main reasons for delay were delay in land acquisition and lack of infrastructure support and clearances.
The report noted that ministries must be ready to firm up cost and time overruns to keep costs under check.
