Aggregate costs of centrally funded infrastructure projects jumped 16.4 per cent in January as cost overruns pushed revised estimates to Rs 39.2 trillion from their original cost of Rs 33.7 trillion across 1,702 ongoing projects, said a report.
The latest flash report on central-sector infrastructure projects by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (Mospi) is for projects costing Rs 150 crore and above.
However, the cost overrun in January 2026 moderated sequentially from 18.3 per cent in December 2025 across the same ministries and departments. In absolute terms, cost escalation was Rs 5.53 trillion in January from original estimates, down from Rs 5.42 trillion a month earlier.
The department of water resources, river development and Ganga rejuvenation continued to report the steepest overrun among individual ministries.
Revised costs are more than double from initial estimates and recorded an overrun of Rs 99,854 crore, a 102 per cent jump, the same level as December.
The department of telecommunications (DoT) followed with an 80.36 per cent overrun amounting to Rs 1.22 trillion, while the ministry of mines registered an escalation of nearly 27.7 per cent or Rs 2,380.14 crore. Only a handful of ministries, such as higher education and sports, reported savings. Their revised expenditures were below the original estimates by 1.75 per cent and 32.5 per cent, respectively.
-- Himanshi Bhardwaj, Business Standard
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