Govt to adopt new approach to track cost overruns: Sources

New tracking system for cost overruns

The Union government will launch a new system to track cost overruns in January 2025, making the process more standardised to better track outcomes, sources told Moneycontrol.

“The new system aims to track cost overruns at each stage of project implementation. For now, Railways projects are tracked at the inclusion stage, while roads and powers are tracked from the land acquisition stage,” a person aware of the development told Moneycontrol.

Petroleum and telecom track project overruns from start of the project award date.

The Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) of the government is also likely to undergo reforms with project start and tender award date also to be introduced in the portal.

The earlier system captured the project from the date of approval by Board.

The government is also planning an alignment of the portal with various other such initiatives run by the government.

“The API of the OCMS-MoSPI portal will be integrated with the IIG-PMG portal of the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry,” said the person.

The process will also help the Ministry of Statistics and Programme implementation create customisable dashboards and project reports for Niti Aayog and the Prime Minister’s Office.

The next phase of the plan will include milestone-level monitoring at the pre-construction stage.

The cost overruns in government projects was nearly 20 percent of the original cost, as the anticipated cost of 1,742 ongoing projects at over Rs 31 lakh crore exceeded the original cost by Rs 5 lakh crore.

The government has already spent 53 percent of original cost on these projects.