Projects running behind schedule decline to 25-month low in February
February marked the second consecutive month of decline in the proportion of delayed projects, as the proportion of delayed central government projects declined to a 25-month low of 41.2% compared with 42.8% in the previous month, according to the ministry of statistics and programme implementation report.
The ratio of cost overrun in large central government projects also declined in February to a three-month low of 18.19%, compared with 18.41% in the previous month.
The anticipated cost of these 1,902 projects was nearly Rs 5 lakh crore higher than the original cost of Rs 27.08 lakh crore.
Of the 1,902 projects monitored by the government portal, 443 were facing cost overruns, and another 764 were experiencing time overruns.
The government report noted that nearly half of the 764 delayed projects were delayed for a period of over two years. The average period of delay for these projects was 36.27 months, higher than previous month’s figure of 36.13 months.
The government has ramped up project completions since FY22; it completed 272 projects in FY22 and is due to complete nearly as many this year. Until February 2023, the government had completed 249 projects, with 20 completed in February.
“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,” it further said in the report.
In terms of sectoral composition, Railways faced cost overruns in over half of the
