Over 20 per cent of infrastructure projects record cost overruns due to delays

Of the 1,623 infrastructure projects currently under implementation in India worth over Rs 150 crore, over a fifth have recorded cost overruns accumulating to over Rs 3.88 lakh crore due to continued delays, among other reasons. According to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, another 552 projects have also recorded time escalation.

“The total original cost of implementation of the 1,623 projects was Rs 19,33,390.22 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 23,21,502.84 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 3,88,112.62 crore (20.07 per cent of original cost),” the ministry’s latest report, released for July 2019, observed.