Road transport sector has maximum number of delayed projects: Govt report

A government report has stated that the road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 358 out of 769. This is followed by railways at 111 and the petroleum sector at 87, the report stated. In railways, out of 173 projects, 111 are delayed, while in the petroleum sector, 87 out of 154 projects are running behind schedule, as per the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for November 2022.

In the road transport sector, the total original cost of implementation of 769 projects when sanctioned was ₹4,33,744.86 crore, but this was subsequently anticipated at ₹4,60,524.16 crore implying a cost overrun of 6.2 per cent. Till November, the expenditure incurred on these projects was ₹2,77,208.24 crore, or 60.2 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

The report contains information on the status of the 1,476 central sector infrastructure projects that are worth ₹150 crore and above. As many as 756 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedules and 304 projects have reported additional delays vis-à-vis their date of completion reported in the previous month. Out of these 304 projects, 58 are mega projects costing ₹1,000 crore and above.

In railways, the total original cost of implementation of 173 projects when sanctioned was ₹3,72,761.45 crore, which subsequently increased to ₹6,24,583.37 crore, implying a cost overrun of 67.6 per cent. In the petroleum sector, the total original cost of implementation of 154 projects was ₹3,81,885.12 crore but this was subsequently anticipated at ₹4,01,966.41 crore - a cost overrun of 5.3 per cent.