Delay in govt projects up by 100% in last 6 years: Ministry
NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday pulled up officers for an ‘inordinate delay’ in finishing projects. Terming it as a ‘matter of shame,’ the transport minister said that the Rs 250 crore-NHAI building project was finalised in 2008 and but was inaugurated only recently. However, a close analysis of the government data on infrastructure projects has disclosed that the number of delayed projects and cost overrun has increased in last five years.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation data disclosed that the cost overrun of the projects due to delay has gone up by over 100 per cent between the years 2014 and 2020. Analysis of the data showed that the number of projects which got delayed in 2014 was 209 out of total 710 and the cost overrun was of Rs 1,79,607 crore. While the original cost of the projects was Rs 9,24,307 crore, the anticipated cost due to the delay was Rs 11,03,914 crore.
