Central Government Projects See Lowest Delay Rate In 15 Months: Report

According to a report released on Tuesday (20 February), the number of central government projects running behind schedule in January decreased to its lowest level in 15 months, with 42.8 per cent of projects delayed compared to 46.6 per cent in the previous month as per a report from The Economic Times.

Out of the 1,821 projects registered on the ministry’s portal, 617 were on schedule, while 780 were delayed.

Among these, 431 faced cost overruns, and 255 faced both time and cost overruns.

Of the 780 delayed projects, 25 per cent were behind schedule for 1-12 months, 24 per cent for 1-2 years, and 51 per cent for over two years.

The average time overrun for these projects was reported to be 36.13 months.

Additionally, 22 projects were added in January, while 13 were completed.

The government has been emphasising faster project completion. As of January 2024, 229 projects worth Rs 2.1 lakh crore have been completed, compared to 329 in FY23 and 186 before the pandemic.

In January, the ratio of cost overrun in large central government projects declined to 18.41 per cent, following a three-month high of 18.65 per cent in December.

Cost overrun occurs when a project's anticipated cost exceeds the original cost, while time overrun is when a project exceeds the stipulated completion time.

The anticipated cost of the 1,821 projects, valued over Rs 150 crore each and totaling Rs 30.9 lakh crore, exceeded the original cost by Rs 4.8 lakh crore.

While Railways and Road Transport and Highways accounted for three-fourths of projects facing cost overruns, the ratio was particularly high for Railways at 55 per cent of its total projects.

Additionally, nearly 40 per cent of projects in Railways and roads experienced time overruns.

Ministry data shows that almost 373 projects did not have a proper date of commissioning.

The extent of cost overruns may be further obscured as certain agencies have not revised cost estimates or commissioning schedules for many projects, potentially leading to underreporting of time/cost overrun figures.