New Delhi, Dec 17 (Inditop.com) At least 327 of the 598 central government-sponsored projects have been delayed, resulting in an additional burden of Rs.54,717 crore to the exchequer, the government told the Rajya Sabha Thursday.
The cost of these projects was revised from Rs.543,649 crore to Rs.598,366 crore, resulting in an additional spending of Rs.54,717 crore, Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs V. Narayanasamy said.
All the 598 projects each require capital outlays of above Rs.100 crore.
According to him, the statistics and programme implementation ministry has identified certain factors for the tardy progress of the projects.
These include funds constraints, slow progress by contractors, change in scope of the projects, problems faced in land acquisition, high-cost of rehabilitation and rise in prices of cement and steel besides increase in the interest on capital.
Narayanasamy said the ministry of statistics has also suggested measures for timely completion of the projects. These include adoption of two-stage clearance system and stricter appraisal of projects before approving investments.
The ministry also felt projects should be launched only after funds are fully tied-up and progress be reviewed in-depth on monthly and quarterly basis.
