Delayed projects see cost overruns of Rs50295 crore, admits govt

There have been cost overruns to the tune of Rs50,295 crore in 268 of 578 ongoing projects financed by the union government as of April this year, minister of state for statistics and programme implementation Sriprakash Jaiswal said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

However, he did not specify any timeframe for completion of such projects, which were all worth above Rs 150 crore.

The main reason for cost and time overrun include delay in procurement of equipment, law and order problems, inadequate infrastructure and rise in input costs, Jaiswal said.

The cost overrun of these projects is 16.5 per cent cent of their original approved costs, the statement said.

Last Month, Jaiswal had said in a reply to the house that of 631 ongoing projects costing Rs100 crore and above being monitored by his ministry, as many as 327 delayed projects reported a total cost overrun of Rs52,213 crore till March-end this year.

It was stated in the reply last month that the cost overrun of these projects was 15.8 per cent of their original approved costs.