The number of delayed infrastructure projects, worth Rs 150 crore and above, in India, has risen to 830 as of September 1, 2023 from 809 as of August 1, 2023, according to the August 2023 report by the Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD).
According to the report, out of the 1,762 projects it tracks, 830 projects are facing delays, 550 are on schedule and 43 projects are ahead of schedule.
The remaining 339 projects have no reported year of commissioning nor have a tentative gestation period.
The average time overrun in these 830 delayed projects is 36.96 months.
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Out of the 830 delayed infrastructure projects, 167 have reported additional delays vis-à-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month. Of these 167 projects, 59 are mega projects costing Rs 1,000
crore and above, the report said.
Additionally, out of the 830 delayed infrastructure projects, 194 had reported delays of 1-12 months, 190 are facing delays in the range of 13-24 months, 323 are facing delays of 35-60 months and the remaining 123 are facing delays of beyond 60 months.
The 1,762 infrastructure projects are also facing cost overruns of Rs 4,77,280.69 crore or 19 percent of the total cost.
"Total original cost of implementation of the 1,762 projects was Rs 25,01,400.62 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 29,78,681.31 crore," the report said.
The report added that as of September 1, 2023, Rs 15,57,188.10 crore has been spent on these 1,762 infrastructure projects projects.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India continues to have the highest number of delayed infrastructure projects, with 435 out of its 972 total projects being delayed.
Under MoRTH, 125 projects have reported additional delays vis-à-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month.
The Indian Railways has the second most number of delayed infrastructure projects, with 98 out of its 260 total infrastructure projects being delayed.
Three infrastructure projects under Indian Railways have reported additional delays vis-à-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month.
The Ministry of Petroleum, Ministry of Coal, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Urban Development, and the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education have 83, 51, 58, 25, 22, 16, and 13 projects delayed, respectively.
Last month, the Ministry of Finance had asked all infrastructure-related ministries to evaluate delayed infrastructure projects under their departments and come up with solutions that can be implemented.
The Finance ministry has asked eight of its peers to prepare a status report by November on why infrastructure projects are facing delays and the steps the ministries concerned have taken to resolve these.
The reasons for time overruns as reported by various project implementing agencies include delay in land acquisition, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure support and linkages.
Delays in tie-ups for project financing, finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, tendering, ordering and equipment supply, and law and order problems were among the other reasons.
IPMD is part of the Programme Implementation Wing under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The Programme Implementation Wing has three divisions, namely, the Twenty Point Programme, IPMD and the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme Division.
IPMD monitors the implementation status of 1,762 central sector projects costing more than Rs 150 crore in 16 infrastructure sectors and the performance of key 11 infrastructure sectors.
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