The government is enthusiastic about its national infrastructure pipeline and the plan to infuse Rs 111 trillion till 2024-25, but it needs to brace to shell out much more for these projects. The latest report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) shows that cost overruns for 1,670 projects, worth more than Rs 150 crore value, were on an average 20 per cent.

       Larger projects (worth more than Rs 1,000 crore) faced higher cost overruns, as the anticipated cost exceeded the original by a quarter (chart 1). Time overruns were also high, and a third ...