New Delhi - In May of this year, a total of 458 infrastructure projects in India, each with an investment of Rs 150 crore or more, encountered cost overruns amounting to over Rs 5.71 lakh crore, according to an official report. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), responsible for overseeing projects of this scale, reported that out of 1,817 projects under monitoring, 458 faced cost escalations while 831 projects experienced delays.

The initial estimated cost for all 1,817 projects was Rs 27,58,567.23 crore, but the anticipated completion cost has risen to Rs 33,29,647.99 crore, indicating an overall cost overrun of Rs 5,71,080.76 crore, which is approximately 20.70% higher than the original estimate.

As of May 2024, these projects had incurred expenditures totaling Rs 1,707,190.15 crore, amounting to 51.3% of the anticipated total cost.

While the number of delayed projects decreased to 831, when calculated based on the latest scheduled completion dates, the report noted varying degrees of delays: 245 projects were delayed by 1-12 months, 188 projects by 13-24 months, 271 projects by 25-60 months, and 127 projects were delayed by over 60 months. On average, the time overrun for these delayed projects was 35.1 months.

Various reasons were cited by project implementing agencies for the delays, including issues related to land acquisition, environmental clearances, financial constraints, contractual or internal disputes, shortage of manpower, and litigation challenges.