Tamil Nadu: Infrastructure projects lack proper planning

CHENNAI: India suffers from lack of proper scheduling and monitoring mechanism resulting in 241 infrastructure projects being delayed due to various reasons which has resulted in cost over-run of Rs 1.8 lakh crore to Rs two lakh crore, according to an expert from American Association of Cost Engineering (AACE), International.

Sankar Subrahmaniyam, American Association of Cost Engineering, International, chair India Task Force told Express that IIT-Madras along with AACE is organising a national conference on August 4 to discuss how risks can be managed in mega projects.

He said that total global megaproject spending is assessed at US$6 to US$9 trillion annually, or eight per cent of the total global gross domestic product (GDP), which denotes the biggest investment boom in human history.

This comes as the Centre has launched PRAGATI- Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation- wherein the Prime Minister holds monthly meetings with secretaries of the Union government and chief secretaries of all state governments to review the progress of projects under implementation. Sankar said that performance data of megaprojects around the world had indicated that nine out of 10 such projects have had cost overruns in the range of 50 per cent to 1,900 per cent of their originally estimated costs. Some examples are Channel-Tunnel rail link between UK and France (80 per cent) and Sydney Opera house (1,400 per cent).

US$6-9 tn  The total global megaproject spending is assessed at US$6 to US$9 trillion annually, or eight per cent of the total global GDP

Fact check india

Rs 1.8L core to Rs 2L crore is the cost run-over caused by delay in 241 infrastructure projects in the country due to various reasons

50 % to 1,900 per cent is the range of cost overruns from the originally estimated costs of nine out of ten mega projects around the world