The road transport and highways sector, Railways and the petroleum sector have the maximum number of delayed projects, showed a government report.

Over 262 of 835 projects in the road transport and highways sector are delayed. In Railways, 115 projects out of 173 projects are delayed, while for petroleum, 89 out of 140 projects are delayed, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for September 2022.

The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD) is mandated to monitor central sector infrastructure projects costing ₹150 crore and above based on the information provided on the Online Computerised Monitoring System (OCMS) by the project implementing agencies. The IPMD comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

The report showed that the Muneerabad-Mahaboobnagar rail project is the most-delayed project. It is delayed by 276 months. The second-most delayed project is the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project which is delayed by 247 months. The third-most delayed project is Belapur-Seawood-Urban Electrified Double Line, which is delayed by 228 months.

Massive cost overruns

About the road transport and highways sector, the report stated that the total original cost of implementation of 835 projects when sanctioned, was ₹4,94,300.45 crore. This was subsequently anticipated at ₹5,26,481.88 crore, implying a cost overrun of 6.5 per cent. The expenditure incurred on these projects till September 2022 is ₹3,21,980.33 crore, which is 61.2 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

For the Railways, the total original cost of implementation of 173 projects when sanctioned was ₹3,72,761.45 crore, and it was later increased to Rs 6,23,008.98 crore, implying a cost overrun of 67.1 per cent. The expenditure incurred on these projects till September 2022 is ₹3,50,349.9 crore, which is 56.2 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

In the petroleum sector, the report said that the total original cost of implementation of 140 projects when sanctioned was ₹3,64,330.55 crore, which rose to ₹3,84,102.18 crore, showing a cost overrun of 5.4 per cent. The expenditure incurred on these projects till September 2022 is ₹1,38,460.78 crore, which is 36 per cent of their anticipated cost of the projects.

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