Construction of a connecting road is underway between the Ashram flyover and the new DND flyover in New Delhi on January 2, 2023. The Ashram flyover has been closed for 45 days for construction work, causing traffic jams on the roads near the flyover. , Photo Credit: PTI
The road transport and highways sector has the maximum number of delayed projects at 428, followed by railways at 117 and petroleum industry at 88, according to a government report.
In the road transport and highways sector, 428 out of 724 projects are delayed. According to the latest flash report on infrastructure projects for December 2022, 117 out of 173 projects in the railways are delayed, while 88 out of 158 projects in the petroleum sector are behind schedule.
The Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD) is mandated to monitor central sector infrastructure projects costing ₹150 crore and above on the basis of information provided by the project implementing agencies on the Online Computerized Monitoring System (OCMS).
IPMD comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation.
The report revealed that the Munirabad-Mahbubnagar rail project is the most delayed project. There is a delay of 276 months.
The second most delayed project is the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail project, which is running late by 247 months.
The third most delayed project, the Belapur-Seawood-Urban electrified double line, is running 228 months behind schedule.
The December 2022 flash report includes information on the status of 1,438 central sector infrastructure projects costing ₹150 crore and above.
At least 835 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedule and 174 projects have reported additional delays as compared to their completion date reported in the last month. Of these 174 projects, 47 are mega projects costing Rs 1,000 crore and above.
Regarding the road transport and highways sector, the report states that the total original cost of implementation of 724 projects when approved was ₹3,82,180.34 crore, but was later estimated to be ₹4,02,958.36 crore, which This means a cost increase of 5.4%.
Rs 2,35,925.26 crore has been spent on these projects till December 2022, which is 58.5% of the estimated cost.
Similarly, in Railways, the total original cost of implementation of 173 projects when sanctioned was ₹3,72,761.45 crore, which was later revised to ₹6,25,491.15 crore – a cost increase of 67.8 per cent.
Rs 3,65,079.88 crore or 58.4% of the estimated cost of the projects had been spent on these projects till December 2022.
Regarding the petroleum sector, it said that the total original cost of implementation of 158 projects when approved was Rs 3,82,097.19 crore, but was later increased to Rs 4,02,446.01 crore, thereby increasing the cost by 5.3%.
Rs 1,54,240.87 crore or 38.3% of their estimated cost had been spent on these projects till December 2022.