India Plugging Away at Infrastructure

According to the Indian Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation, 423 of 925 infrastructure projects monitored by the central government were behind schedule as of spring 2009, resulting in cost overruns of some $8 billion.

The Indian government’s “Project Implementation Status Report for January to March 2009” says delayed projects include 154 in the road and highway sector, 58 in railways, 32 each in the power and steel sectors, 30 each in the coal and petrochemical sectors, 24 in civil aviation and three in atomic energy.

Delays result from factors that include funding constraints, delays in land acquisition, environmental clearance delays, slow progress in activities other than civil works, delays in equipment, and law-and-order issues, according to a summary of the report prepared by Industrial Info Resources of Sugar Land, Texas.

More than 300 of the 925 projects studied in the report have exceeded original costs, according to the report. The anticipated total cost of these projects is $43.8 billion, representing a 54 percent increase over the original $28.3 billion estimate.

There are 445 projects facing delays of from 1 month to 16 years with respect to their original schedules. A total of 140 projects have reported both time and cost overruns, according to the report.

The metals-intensive power and roads sectors are the worst hit, with 60 percent of projects in the power sector and 40 percent in the roads sector behind schedule.

Industrial Info Resources, www.industrialinfo.com, provides information in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy-related markets.