1. Maharashtra: More than 85 irrigation projects incomplete for past 30 years
Earlier, quite a few projects under the first phase of JNNURM scheme got delayed as the Left-run government could not prepare and send the detailed project reports to the Centre for financial approval on time.
The JNNURM scheme - launched in 2005 - had included Kolkata and Asansol for fund disbursement. Among some of the major projects completed under the scheme in the city are the EM Bypass-VIP Road flyover, the water supply project in Sector V and the Nagerbazar flyover.
"In other states, work for the second or even third phase has already started. But in West Bengal, work for the first phase projects is still going on. Hopefully, the projects will be finished on time if work is executed in full swing from now. Else, the state will have to bear the additional cost, including the cost escalation," an official said.
At a time when the state is grappling with a severe drought, 85 irrigation projects, underway for the past 30 years, are still nowhere near completion, data from the Irrigation Development Corporation has revealed.
Cost overruns across 515 irrigation projects in the state amount to a whopping Rs 44,061.81 crore.
The total amount estimated for these projects was Rs 97,000 crore. The state now requires Rs 1.25 lakh crore to finish the incomplete projects.
Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan said, “After an investment of Rs 70,000 crore over the past 10 years, a large number of projects are still languighing incomplete. Today, we have to make higher allocations to complete the projects in a phased manner.”
Of the total 515 projects, 85 were started 30 years ago, 61 projects 20 years ago, 78 projects ten years ago, 179 projects five years ago and 11 projects less than five years ago. The Gosikhurd National Irrigation Project, which started in 1984 at Bhandara district with an estimated cost of Rs 381 crore, is now pegged at Rs 16,000 crore. After spending Rs 8,000 crore, it is still incomplete, with the state now seeking central funds for it.
While the government has already enforced a ban on sanctioning new irrigation projects, relaxing its norms to give a go-ahead to projects awaiting revised cost estimate is on the agenda.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has convened a meeting with the ministry of water resources and ministry of finance in a couple of weeks to address the problems of irrigation works. The government also intends to review the irrigation project audit report to identity how mcuh funds it needs to allocate for them over the next three ears and how they can be expedited in the most effective manner.
Several options are under way to source funds, including taking big loans on low interest through collaboration and linking it with other project partnerships. However, formal decision will be taken after a couple of meeting.
Source: Times of India
2. Incomplete projects a burden on govt
The financial burden of the state may get heavier by next year if it fails to complete all ongoing projects under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme. For, the Centre has decided to take back unutilized funds and charge 9% interest from the states that fail to complete all approved projects by March 2014.
The announcement by the Centre has left the state government in a spot since it'll be a mammoth task to complete all projects on time. Almost all JNNURM projects are running way behind schedule (see chart). If the implementing agencies fail to finish the projects on time, the state will have to bear the additional cost and pay interest on the unspent amount.
Senior officials at Writers' Buildings said that the central government had clearly informed that it will accept new project proposals that fall under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) schemes.
"The Centre has extended the deadline from one and half years to three years to complete these new projects. However, all ongoing projects have to be completed by March 2014, failing which the Centre will recover the unutilized funds with interest," he added. According to sources, the Centre had earlier promised to disburse a total of Rs 2,600 crore under the JNNURM. The state had sent project proposals asking for Rs 3,200 crore.
The announcement by the Centre has left the state government in a spot since it'll be a mammoth task to complete all projects on time. Almost all JNNURM projects are running way behind schedule (see chart). If the implementing agencies fail to finish the projects on time, the state will have to bear the additional cost and pay interest on the unspent amount.
Senior officials at Writers' Buildings said that the central government had clearly informed that it will accept new project proposals that fall under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) and the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) schemes.
"The Centre has extended the deadline from one and half years to three years to complete these new projects. However, all ongoing projects have to be completed by March 2014, failing which the Centre will recover the unutilized funds with interest," he added. According to sources, the Centre had earlier promised to disburse a total of Rs 2,600 crore under the JNNURM. The state had sent project proposals asking for Rs 3,200 crore.
In a meeting held in Delhi recently, state government officials had requested the Centre to extend the deadline for the ongoing projects. According to them, out of different projects that were listed under the JNNURM scheme, about 18 projects have already been executed and another 17 are under implementation.
Earlier, quite a few projects under the first phase of JNNURM scheme got delayed as the Left-run government could not prepare and send the detailed project reports to the Centre for financial approval on time.
The JNNURM scheme - launched in 2005 - had included Kolkata and Asansol for fund disbursement. Among some of the major projects completed under the scheme in the city are the EM Bypass-VIP Road flyover, the water supply project in Sector V and the Nagerbazar flyover.
"In other states, work for the second or even third phase has already started. But in West Bengal, work for the first phase projects is still going on. Hopefully, the projects will be finished on time if work is executed in full swing from now. Else, the state will have to bear the additional cost, including the cost escalation," an official said.
Source: The India Express
3. Incomplete RKVY projects flatten Odisha Government claim
BHUBANESWAR: EVEN as the State Government claims to have implemented 110 projects under the Centrally sponsored Rastriya Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) in 2015-16, 29 of the sanctioned projects still remain incomplete. Of Rs 328.96 crore released for 29 projects, Rs 37.66 crore have been utilised.
A report of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare stated that the funds for 29 projects were sanctioned in 2015-16 and thoe are under implementation as on date.
While Rs 184 crore was sanctioned under BGREI (Bringing Green Revolution to Easter India), Rs 35.78 crore has been utilised. Similarly, Rs 1.87 crore out of an allocation Rs five crore for Gomata Samridhi Praklpa has been utilised.
Some of the projects, which were sanctioned last fiscal but are under implementation till date, include strengthening of mobile veterinary units (Rs 39.21 crore) and District Diagnostic Laboratory (DDL)/Clinical Investigation Laboratory (CIL)/State Veterinary Laboratory (SVL) with a cost of Rs 12.94 crore. A fully funded Central scheme since 2007-08, the fund sharing pattern of RKVY was changed to 60:40 in 2015-16 with reduction of Central share to 60 per cent. As a result, the State received Rs 292.36 crore from the Centre during the last financial year under the scheme. With the State’s share of Rs 199.72 crore, the total allocation under RKVY was Rs 492 crore.
Meanwhile, the Centre has indicated an interim allocation of Rs 227.39 crore for the State under normal RKVY and the assistance is for production growth and infrastructure development.
As per the scheme guidelines, the State will be eligible to receive RKVY assistance only after indicating its baseline share for agriculture and allied activities and submission of district agriculture plan (DAP) and state agriculture plan (SAP).
The Centre has relaxed the norms for the current fiscal in view of the drought situation in many parts of the country including Odisha.
The Ministry has cautioned that allocation of fund under normal RKVY will be made only after submission of utilisation certificates for 60 per cent of the funds released last year.
Source: New India Express
4. Cost overruns of unfinished rail projects are equivalent to annual salary of its 3 mn employees
Delays in completing rail projects resulted in cost overruns of Rs 1.07 lakh crore ($16.4 billion)–equivalent to the yearly salary bill of its three million employees–according to an IndiaSpend analysis of a December 2015 audit report.
As of March 2014, the railways needed Rs 1.86 lakh crore ($28.6 billion) to complete these projects, said the report, “Status of ongoing projects in Indian Railways“, conducted over five years (2009-14) by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
Of 442 incomplete projects–new railway lines, gauge conversion and doubling–only 156 (35 percent) had deadlines, but despite targets, 75 were incomplete after more than 15 years.
The combined cost overrun of projects with a budget of more than Rs 150 crore (319 of 442) was Rs 1.01 lakh crore ($15.5 billion); for projects less than Rs 150 crore (123 of 442), the combined cost overrun was Rs 5, 614 crore ($0.89 billion), the report said.
Cost Overrun
| Project Type | Projects | Original Cost | Revised Cost (March 2014) | Cost Overrun | Cumulative Expenditure (March 2014) | Money required to complete projects as of March 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projects costing more than Rs 150 crore | 319 | 144,751 | 246,045 | 101,294 | 84,892 | 175,031 |
| Projects costing less than Rs 150 crore | 123 | 10,819 | 16,433 | 5,614 | 7,923 | 10,528 |
| Grand Total | 442 | 155,570 | 262,478 | 106,908 | 92,815 | 185,559 |
Cost, Expenditure in Rs crore
Three projects unfinished after 30 years; 22 not started, although cleared 16 years ago
Of the 75 projects incomplete for more than 15 years, three were unfinished after 30 years. Further, 22 projects had not started, although some were cleared up to 16 years ago.
Here are two examples:
1. An 83.74-km railway line from Nangal Dam in Punjab’s Rupnagar district to Talwara in Hoshiarpur district: Cleared 34 years ago, the 43.91-km first phase of the line (from Nangal Dam to Amb Andaura, a town in Himachal Pradesh) was completed after nine years, in 1991. The 17-km second phase, from Una in Himachal Pradesh to Charuru Takrala, a village in Una district, started in 1998 and opened seven years later. There has been no construction since, because no money was available. Rs 383.89 crore had been spent on 46-km until March 2014, and 45 percent of the line is incomplete, the CAG report said.
2. A 42-km railway line from Howrah, West Bengal, to Amta in the same state, with a 32-km branch line to Champadanga, a town in Hooghly district: Cleared for construction 45 years ago, the first stretch of 24 km from Howrah to Bargachhia took nine years; the second 18-km stretch, from Bargachhia to Amta, was stalled for several years. Construction restarted in two phases, in 2000 and 2004, but was never completed because land could not be acquired between Bargachhia to Champadanga. In 2014, the railways wanted the project cancelled. But it is presently considered “ongoing”, with an anticipated “throw forward” cost–meaning the money required for completion–of Rs 356 crore. These are extreme examples, but they reveal how projects are started without clear plans and preparations; many fail the railways’ own financial standards.
Only 30 percent of projects meet financial requirements, rest are unviable
A provision of the Indian Railway Finance Code states: “No fresh investment proposal would be considered financially justifiable unless the net gain (Rate of Return) expected to be realised as a result of the proposed outlay, after meeting the working expenses or the average annual cost of service, is 14 per cent or more”.
The rate of return is based on the earnings from anticipated traffic. Only 30 percent of the incomplete projects had a net gain or rate of return of 14 percent, whereas 126 projects had a negative rate of return. This means 70 percent of the projects were not financially viable.
The CAG report included recommendations for future projects. Some of them:
- Indian Railways need to revisit all projects that are incomplete after more than 15 years and assess their financial viability.
- Indian Railways need to prioritise projects and ensure these are adequately funded, so they can be completed on deadline
- The Railway Board and zonal offices need to monitor projects better, so no more money is wasted.
(IndiaSpend.com is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit)
Source: Firstpost
And, so on there are many of these uncomplete Govt. projects, hope that the govt should complete what they say within the said time frame.
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