New Delhi, Dec 19: Delay in the execution of more than 400 projects by the Railways resulted in cost overrun of Rs 1.07 lakh crore, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said.
The CAG in its latest report which was tabled in Parliament today said “Target dates for completion of projects were either not fixed or not available on records of the Railway Administration. The physical progress was also slow where target for completion of project was fixed.”
It further said that projects were delayed due to delay in preparation/sanction of estimate and delay in acquisition of land. Delay in completion of projects resulted in cost overrun of Rs 1.07 lakh crore and huge throw-forward of Rs 1.86 lakh crore in respect of 442 ongoing projects, it added.
The CAG in its report said there was lack of consistency in prioritisation of projects and also there were several instances of under-utilisation of funds which had adverse impact on the physical progress of projects.
The report observed that while the allotment of funds was not proportionate to the requirement, there were several instances of under-utilisation of funds which had adverse impact on the physical progress of projects.
Noting that during 2009-14, 202 projects were added to the existing shelf of ongoing projects ignoring existing fund constraint and as a result only 67 projects were completed during the same period.
The federal auditor observed that 75 projects are ongoing for more than 15 years and of them, three projects are 30 years old. Despite budgetary support from the Finance Ministry, progress of national projects was far from satisfactory resulting in substantial time and cost overrun.
It has found that the rate of return was less than the prescribed benchmark of 14 per cent in 236 (53 per cent) ongoing projects.
