More than 44 percent of major infrastructure projects, including National Highways (NHs), cost Rs. 150 crore each have been delayed due to various reasons, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
A total of 952 projects were under construction in March 2024 and out of them 419 projects have been delayed.
Under construction in March 2024 Rs. Out of 952 projects, including National Highway (NH) projects costing over Rs 150 crore, 419 projects have gone beyond their original completion schedule, missing one or the other of the various stages of project completion. till March 2024 and excluding projects pending for termination / foreclosure,” Gadkari said. Responding to a question raised by Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Nadimul Haque.
He added that the main reasons for delay in NH projects are land acquisition, delay in obtaining statutory approval, clearance of encroachments, law and order, poor performance of contractors and incidents like covid-19 pandemic, heavy rains, floods. Cyclone, Landslide etc
“The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken steps to facilitate land acquisition, environmental clearance and utility transfer. The government is also leveraging a mechanism of review at various levels to resolve bottlenecks/barriers in ongoing projects in active collaboration with state governments and other stakeholders,” the minister said.
The data shows that among the 32 states and Union Territories, Maharashtra has the highest number of 59 projects (over 58%) delayed. Besides, 23 out of 29 projects in Manipur have been delayed.
Similarly, 22 out of 31 projects in Gujarat, 22 out of 78 projects in Uttar Pradesh, 22 out of 48 projects in Karnataka, 19 out of 75 projects in Andhra Pradesh, 19 out of 44 projects in Bihar, 18 out of 40 projects in Tamil Nadu, 17 out of 38 projects. 16 projects each in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand and Odisha have been delayed.
Three out of five projects in the national capital have also been delayed. Similarly, 9 projects in Assam, 12 in Chhattisgarh, 9 in Haryana, 6 in Himachal Pradesh, 8 in Jharkhand, 4 in Kerala, 8 in Madhya Pradesh and 6 in Punjab have been delayed.
While Gadkari did not say whether the delay has increased the cost of the project, he said that not all delayed projects have cost overruns.
“If the delay is not attributable to the contractor, the price increase is paid according to the contract terms according to the defined formula, which may or may not result in additional costs depending on the final value of the price increase determined after the actual completion and final settlement of the bills. Project contract / concession period Termination. If the delay is attributable to the contractor, the damages are levied and there is no additional cost due to the delay,” said Nitin Gadkari.