New Delhi: The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 407, followed by railways at 114 and the petroleum industry at 86, according to a government report.
News agency PTI cited the Flash Report for February 2023 that contains information on the status of the 1,418 central sector infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above, and said that out of 717 projects, the road transport and highways sector has 407 delayed projects.
It said that the total original cost of implementation of 717 projects, when the project was sanctioned, was Rs 3.97 lakh crore. But later it was estimated to be Rs 4.14 lakh crore, implying a cost overrun of 4.3%.
For railways, out of 173 projects, 114 are delayed.
The total original cost of implementation of these 173 projects, when sanctioned, was Rs 3.72 lakh crore. It was, however, later anticipated to be Rs 6.26 lakh crore, implying a cost overrun of 68.1%.
In the petroleum sector, out of 146 projects, 86 are running out of schedule.
The total original cost of implementation of these 146 projects, when sanctioned, was Rs 3.67 lakh crore, but this was subsequently anticipated to be Rs 3.85 lakh crore, implying a cost overrun of 4.8%.
According to the government report, 823 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedules, 346 projects have reported cost overrun and 242 projects reported both times and cost overrun.
As many as 159 projects have reported additional delays, of which 38 are mega projects costing Rs 1,000 crore and above, the report added.
The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division, which comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, is mandated to monitor central sector infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above.
Out of all the projects, the Muneerabad-Mahaboobnagar rail project is the most delayed, PTI said, citing the report. 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, Belapur-Seawood-Urban Electrified Double Line, is running 228 months behind schedule.