Infrastructure projects worth Rs 3.40 lakh crore face cumulative cost overrun: MoSPI

New Delhi: Infrastructure projects costing Rs 150 crore and above have recorded a cumulative cost overrun of around Rs 3,40,504 crore, according to the monthly report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) for July 2026.

The report covers 1,775 ongoing infrastructure projects across 17 Central Ministries and Departments. Their combined revised cost stood at Rs 37,10,642 crore, compared with an original estimated cost of Rs 33,70,138 crore.

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The report, however, did not specify the actual number of projects that had reported cost overruns.

Cumulative expenditure on the projects stood at Rs 19.26 lakh crore, or about 51.91 per cent of their revised cost, indicating steady progress in implementation, MoSPI said.

A substantial number of projects have reached advanced stages. As many as 675 projects, or 38 per cent of the total, had achieved more than 80 per cent physical progress, while 305 projects, or 17 per cent, had crossed 80 per cent financial completion.

The data also points to a broad spread of projects across different stages of implementation, with significant numbers in both the early and advanced phases.

Transport and logistics dominate

Transport and Logistics remained the largest sector by both project count and revised cost. The sector accounted for 1,246 projects, or 70 per cent of the total, with a combined revised cost of Rs 19.81 lakh crore, equivalent to 53 per cent of the overall revised project cost.

The sector covers Roads and Highways, Railways, Aviation, Urban Public Transport, Shipping and Inland Waterways, highlighting their role in improving connectivity, economic integration and logistics efficiency.

Energy was the second-largest sector, accounting for 29 per cent of the aggregate revised cost, or Rs 10.66 lakh crore, across 205 projects. The projects cover Oil and Gas infrastructure, electricity generation, transmission and distribution networks, and energy storage systems.

Communication infrastructure accounted for 31 projects with a combined project cost of Rs 1.34 lakh crore, or 4 per cent of the total revised cost.

Water and Sanitation projects numbered 53 and had a revised cost of Rs 2.05 lakh crore, accounting for 5 percent of the overall cost.

Social and Commercial infrastructure comprised 91 projects with a revised cost of Rs 0.99 lakh crore, or 3 percent. These projects cover areas including education, healthcare, real estate, and tourism, hospitality and wellness.

Another 149 projects, classified under ‘Others’, had a combined revised cost of Rs 2.26 lakh crore, or 6 percent. These projects span sectors including coal, steel, metals and mining.

Roads and Highways account for largest project share

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways accounted for the largest number of projects among the ministries and departments monitored. It was implementing 993 projects, representing 56 percent of the total, with a combined revised cost of Rs 9.62 lakh crore, or 26 percent of the overall revised project cost.

The Ministry of Railways was implementing 190 projects, or 11 percent of the total, with a revised cost of Rs 6.38 lakh crore, accounting for 17 percent of the aggregate.

The Ministry of Coal accounted for 121 projects, or 7 percent, with a combined revised cost of Rs 2.22 lakh crore, or 6 percent of the total.

The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas was implementing 103 projects with a revised cost of Rs 4.23 lakh crore. The Ministry of Power had 98 projects with a revised cost of Rs 6.08 lakh crore, while the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs had 50 projects valued at Rs 3.78 lakh crore.

The Department of Water Resources, River Development & GR was implementing 38 projects with an aggregate revised cost of Rs 2.01 lakh crore.

The remaining 182 projects, representing 10 percent of the total, had a combined revised cost of Rs 2.78 lakh crore, or 8 percent. These were spread across departments and ministries including Higher Education, Civil Aviation, Steel, Telecommunications, Labour & Employment, Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Health & Family Welfare, Mines, DPIIT and Sports.

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Mega and major projects

Of the 1,775 projects monitored, 735 were classified as Mega projects, with an individual project cost of Rs 1,000 crore and above. Their combined original cost stood at Rs 28.77 lakh crore.

The remaining 1,040 were classified as Major projects, with individual costs below Rs 1,000 crore and up to Rs 150 crore, and had an aggregate original cost of Rs 4.93 lakh crore.

The implementation data showed that physical and financial progress broadly moved in tandem. A large number of projects were concentrated at the initial 0–20 percent stage as well as the advanced 81–100 percent stage, pointing to a pipeline that combines newly launched projects with those approaching completion.

In the 81–100 percent range, physical progress was higher than financial progress. At the earlier stages, however, financial progress was relatively higher, reflecting upfront expenditure patterns typically associated with project implementation.

Overall, the July data points to a large and diversified infrastructure pipeline, with transport and energy accounting for the bulk of planned investment and a significant share of projects already at advanced stages of execution. At the same time, the cumulative gap between original and revised project costs highlights the scale of cost escalation across the projects under monitoring.

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