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The latest Exception Report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Central Sector Projects costing Rs.100 crore and above, states that 18 projects have reported additional delays in the range of one to thirteen months over the completion dates given in the preceding month. Of these, 7 are in Road Transport, 4 Power, 3 Petroleum, 2 Railways and one each in Steel and Urban Development Sectors. As on 30th November 2004, the remaining 301 projects did not indicate any additional delay.
In the Road Transport Sector, 7 National Highway Development Projects slipped in the range of 1 to 13 months during period under report, due to unspecified reasons. However, the Dharmavaram-Rajahmundry and Tambaram-Tindivanam, Golden Quadrilateral packages are nearing completion. In the Railways, 2 projects i.e. the Rajgir-Tilaiya New Line and the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla New Line reported additional delays between three to twelve months, with security and land acquisition problem still persisting.
In the Steel Sector, the repair of Blast furnace (no.4) at the Rourkela Plant slipped by three more months on account of delay in shut-down and supply of equipment. In Power, 4 transmission projects delayed by one to three months. Of this, the commissioning of the Tehri Transmission System is critical for the evacuation of power from the Tehri Hydro Electric Project, now scheduled for commissioning by June this year. In Petroleum, the commissioning schedule of three projects delayed between one to thirteen months. In particular, the Dahej-Hazira-Uran Pipeline Project of the Gas Authority of India Ltd. delayed by 5 months due to late mobilization by the contractor.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation which is monitoring the progress of the Central Projects has cautioned the concerned administrative ministries and departments about the delay and suggested taking appropriate measures to prevent further slippages. The cost overrun in case of all the projects costing Rs.100 crore and above has already exceeded 10 per cent of the total anticipated cost, the Report observed.
VKS/SR
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