According to the Infrastructure and Project Monitoring Division (IPMD) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), as of 27 June 27 2022, it was managing a pipeline of 1,568 projects, with an anticipated cost of Rs26.5 trillion ($350.3 billion). Of the total, it had 1,105 ‘major’ projects worth nearly Rs4.8 trillion ($62.7 billion), and 463 ‘mega’ projects worth nearly Rs21.8 trillion ($287.5 billion). In terms of project implementation status, eight projects were ahead of schedule, 270 were on schedule, 721 were delayed, and the commissioning schedule of 569 projects was unknown.

Projects in the road transport and highway sector account for the highest share of projects in the pipeline, equivalent to 53.8% of the total pipeline by number. In terms of project value too, as per original cost of implementation, the road transport and highway sector accounted for the highest share of 23.4%, followed by railways (18.9%), petroleum (17.2%), urban development (13.2%), and power (8.1%). The water resources sector recorded the highest cost over-run with respect to the original cost of implementation, equivalent to 195.5%, followed by the heavy industry (107.1%), telecommunications (81.1%), and railways (63.6%) sectors.

Of the total number of delayed projects, 15.7% of the projects have been delayed in the range of 1-12 months, 16.8% in the range of 13-24 months, 48.5% in the range of 25-60 months, and 19% projects have been delayed over 60 months, as of May 2022. The number of delayed projects in the pipeline rose sharply from 647 at the end of April 2022, to 721 at the end of May 2022. The overall percentage of cost overrun with respect to original estimates is equivalent to 22.9% at the end of May 2022.

As of April 2020, when a nationwide lockdown was introduced, 27.8% of projects had been delayed in the range of 1- 12 months, 23.3% in the range of 13-24 months, 26.2% in the range of 25-60 months, and 22.6% projects had been delayed over 60 months. The overall percentage of cost overrun with respect to the original estimates was equivalent to 19.8% at the end of April 2020.

Of the total projects in the pipeline, 423 projects are facing cost overruns and 721 are facing time overruns, with respect to the original schedule. Projects in the railway sector have the highest number of cost over-runs (159), followed by projects in the road transport and highways (153), petroleum (28), and power (23) sectors. On the other hand, projects in the road transport and highways sector have the highest number of time over-runs (301), followed by projects in the railways (127), petroleum (91), and power (52) sectors. Some of the main reasons for the delay in project implementation are problems with land acquisition, delays in obtaining environmental clearance, change in scope of project, and inadequate manpower, while cost overruns can be attributed to inflation, changes in foreign exchange rates, underestimation of original costs, spiralling land acquisition costs, and time overruns, among others.

Roads and Highways

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) widened and upgraded 198.3km of highways in May 2022 (the latest data available at the time of writing), which is 35.7% lower than the target for that month, and marks a 21% year-on-year (YoY) decline compared to the work done during May 2021. Similarly, the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Border Road Organisation (BRO) widened 135.5km of two/four/six/eight lanes and strengthened 83.2km of existing pavement in May 2022, marking a 53.1% YoY decline compared to the same period of last year.

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On a positive note, however, the total length of road network widened and upgraded by the NHAI grew by 9.6% in the first four months of this year, increasing from 2,280.7km in January-April 2021 to 2,499.3km in January-April 2022. In contrast, the total length of road network widened and strengthened by the PWD and BRO fell by 45.4% YoY, from 3,311.4km to 1,807.3km, during the same period.

Power

The total power generated in the country stood at 142.1 billion Units (BU) in April 2022 (the latest data available at the time of writing), which marks a YoY growth of 11.8% compared to the same month 2021. Of the total, 15.1BU of power was generated from renewable energy sources, marking a 29.7% YoY growth over the same period of last year. In cumulative terms, the total power generated in the country rose by 6% in the first four months of this year, increasing from 491BU during January-April 2021 to 520.3BU during January-April 2022. Of the total, power generation from renewable energy sources rose by 21.8%, from 47BU to 57.2BU, during the same period.

Cement Production

The total amount of cement produced in the country stood at 32.8 million tonnes (MT) in April 2022 (the latest data available at the time of writing), marking a YoY growth of 17.6% compared to the same month of last year. This was preceded by YoY growths of 15.5% in May and 11.3% in April 2021. In cumulative terms, cement production rose by 14.5% in the first four months of this year, increasing from 119.4MT in January-April 2021 to 136.7 MT in January-April 2022.