INDIAN EXPRESS ARTICLE (31st August, 2012) Delays caused Rs 14K cr cost overruns in 16 hydro projects: CAG

Delay in implementing 16 hydro power projects by four state-run generators, including NHPC and SJVN, resulted in cost overruns of more than Rs 14,700 crore, CAG said today. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said geological surprises as well as many other "controllable factors" led to the delay in implementation of 16 projects by NHPC, SJVN, THDC and NEEPCO. "Delay in execution of 16 projects by four Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) resulted in revision of their initial approved cost of Rs 30,005 crore to Rs 44,712 crore. In seven completed/ongoing projects, the cost overrun was in the range of 53 to 148 per cent," CAG said. CAG made these observations in report titled 'Capacity Expansion in Hydro Power Sector by CPSEs for the year ended March 2012', that was tabled in the Parliament. Out of the 16 projects, as many as 11 are being implemented by NHPC, while the company is a joint venture partner with Madhya Pradesh government in another project. There are two plants of NEEPCO and one each of THDC and SJVN. All these 16 hydro plants together have a generation capacity of 6,794 MW. Out of them, THDC' 400 MW Koteshwar plant, NHPC's 120 MW Sewa-II and 510 Teesta V are already running. The 520 MW Omkareshwar plant -- jointly owned by NHPC and Madhya Pradesh government -- too has started generation. CAG said that NHPC's 2,000 MW Subansri Lower, 800 MW Parbati-II and NEEPCO's 600 MW Kameng, among others, are ongoing projects. Even though, geological surprises were one of the major reasons for the delays, CAG said there were other factors.

TIMES OF INDIA ARTICLE Cost overrun of over Rs 52,000 crore due to project delays: Government
PTI Sep 7, 2012, 04.03PM IST Tags: NEW DELHI: Delay in core projects completion have led to cost overruns of Rs 52,445 crore, Parliament was informed today. "As per the...report for the month of May 2012, the cost overrun was Rs 52,445 crore for the combined delayed projects of power (28), railways (36) and road transport and highways(84) sectors," the minister of state (Independent charge) for statistics and programme implementation Srikant Kumar Jena said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha today. Jena said the ministry monitors the implementation status of on-going central sector projects costing Rs 150 crore and above on the basis of information supplied by project implementing agencies. The ministry releases a flash report every month on the implementation of infrastructure projects, he said. The government has initiated steps for timely completion of projects. This includes rigorous project appraisal and two stage approval procedure, prioritization of projects, setting-up on-line computerized monitoring system and higher weightage to project implementation by PSUs. Standing committees are set up in various ministries for fixation of responsibility for time and cost overruns. On projects in Gujarat, he said, 13 ongoing central sector projects each costing Rs 150 crore and above were approved during last three years. The total original cost of these projects is Rs 26,368.82 crore and no cost overrun have been reported by the project implementing agencies in these projects. Jena said only one project Kakrapar Atomic Power Project 3 and 4 has reported delay of 11 months due to late receipt of financial sanction.