New Delhi, Nov 22 (IANS): As many as 437 infrastructure projects have reported cost overrun of over Rs 4.37 lakh crore as of September end, according to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

A report by the ministry also showed that 531 Central sector projects are delayed from their original schedules.

"Out of the 1,663 projects, nine projects are ahead of schedule, 199 are on schedule, 531 are delayed, 437 projects reported cost overrun and 210 projects reported both time and cost overrun with respect to their original project implementation schedules," it said.

As per the report, the total original cost of implementation of the 1,663 projects was Rs 21,09,236.41 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 25,47,057.52 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,37,821.11 crore (20.76 per cent of original cost).

The expenditure incurred on these projects till September 2020 is over Rs 11.61 lakh crore, which is 45.60 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

During September, out of 1,663 Central sector projects, nine projects were added -- four projects from Road Transport & Highways, two from Coal and one project each from Commerce, Urban Development & Petroleum sector -- reported completion costing Rs 452.80 crore.

Around 531 projects are delayed with respect to their original schedules and 82 projects have reported additional delays regarding their date of completion reported in the previous month. Of these 82 projects, 25 are mega projects costing 1,000 crore and above.

However, the report said that the number of delayed projects decreases to 430 if the delay is calculated on the basis of the latest schedule of completion.

Further, for 924 projects neither the year of commissioning nor the tentative gestation period has been reported, it said.