Cost and time overruns mark central sector projects in Assam

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Many central sector projects in Assam have registered cost and time overruns. The 457th flash report on central sector projects, December 2023, of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has revealed this.

The Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation monitors the progress of central sector projects costing Rs 150 crore each or above. The ministry collects project statistics from the executing agencies and prepares flash reports. The latest report of the ministry (December 2023) has revealed the not-so-encouraging progress of central sector projects in Assam.

According to the flash report, Assam has as many as 59 central-sector projects, each of which costs Rs 150 crore or more. The original cost of the 59 central projects was Rs 59993.68 crore, and the anticipated cost now is Rs 67859.35 crore. Thus, it has registered a 13.11 percent cost escalation. However, not all the 59 central projects have registered cost escalation.

Meanwhile, 28 of the 59 central sector projects in Assam have registered time overruns ranging from two months to 102 months.

The original target schedule of the Srirampur-Kochugaon NH project was April 2022, and the last revised target was June 2023. However, the project execution agency has also missed the revised target.

The scheduled target for the original commissioning of All India Institute of Medical Science, Guwahati, was May 2021, and the revised target schedule was December 2023. However, AIIMS Guwahati is not yet fully commissioned.

The original target schedule for construction of the new integrated terminal building of Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Borjhar in Guwahati was March 2021, and its revised target schedule is March 2025.

The original target schedule for the expansion of Guwahati Refinery from 1 to 1.2 MMTRA, along with the installation of catalytic reforming, was October 2023. The revised schedule for the project is February 2022.

The target schedule of the gas-assisted gravity drainage scheme in Kasomarigaon, ONGC, was February 2023. The revised schedule for this project is now June 2024.

Also read: Assam government notifies regulation of private security agencies

Also Watch: