450 infrastructure projects show cost overruns of Rs. 4.28 trillion: Report.

As many as 450 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs. 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.28 trillion, according to a report.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above.

Of the 1,687 such projects, 450 reported cost overruns and 558 were delayed.

"Total original cost of implementation of the 1,687 projects was Rs. 21,44,627.66 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs. 25,72,670.28 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs. 4,28,042.62 crore (19.96 per cent of original cost)," the ministry's latest report for December 2020 said.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till December 2020 was Rs. 12,17,692.37 crore, which was 47.33 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, the report said the number of delayed projects decreases to 408 if delay is calculated on the basis of latest schedule of completion.

BS