New Delhi, May 2 (IANS): As many as 462 infrastructure projects reported a cost overrun of over Rs 4.36 lakh crore as of April 1, 2021.

The Flash Report on Central sector projects for March published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that 557 projects are running behind schedule.

"Out of the 1,737 projects, 13 projects are ahead of schedule, 229 are on schedule, 557 are delayed, 462 projects reported cost overrun and 136 projects reported both time and cost overrun with respect to their original project implementation schedules," the report said.

It, however, said that the number of delayed projects decreases to 412 if delay is calculated on the basis of latest schedule of completion. Further, for 938 projects, neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported.

"Total original cost of implementation of the 1,737 projects was Rs 22,33,409.53 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 26,69,649.35 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,36,239.82 crore (19.53 per cent of original cost)," it said.

The expenditure incurred on these projects till March 2021 was Rs 13,06,617.54 crore, which is 48.94 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.