MoSPI's Flash Report for May 2024

The last count

831 of 1,817central projects delayed against their original schedule, the last month MoSPI printed the count

The last Flash Report that counted delayed central projects was MoSPI's report for May 2024. It found 831 of the 1,817 projects behind their original schedule, which is 45.7 per cent, and a cost overrun of Rs 5.71 lakh crore, which is 20.70 per cent of their original cost.

Not one of the 27 monthly reports since then, from June 2024 to August 2026, uses the word delay or overrun anywhere in its text.

MoSPI's press release of 25 September 2026, which covers the report for August 2026, gives no count either. It says that spending of about 48.59 per cent of the revised cost is "indicating steady progress in project implementation".

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2024 ; MoSPI, press release on the August 2026 report, 25 September 2026 .

Start here

The essentials

This brief asks how many central infrastructure projects run late, and what MoSPI's monthly Flash Report still says about it. It reads all 59 reports from October 2021 to August 2026, before the report for September 2026 comes out on 26 October 2026.

What the figures show

The last Flash Report that counted delayed central projects was MoSPI's report for May 2024. It found 831 of the 1,817 projects behind their original schedule, which is 45.7 per cent, and a cost overrun of Rs 5.71 lakh crore, which is 20.70 per cent of their original cost. Not one of the 27 monthly reports since then, from June 2024 to August 2026, uses the word delay or overrun anywhere in its text.

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2024 ; MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2024 ; MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2026 .

The count MoSPI printed

MoSPI printed the count in every monthly report that it issued from October 2021 to May 2024. It rose from 539 of 1,680 projects in October 2021 to 831 of 1,817 in May 2024, and it was highest in January 2023, at 871 of 1,454 projects, which is 59.9 per cent.

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for October 2021 ; MoSPI, Flash Report for November 2021 ; and each monthly report, listed under Sources & method.

Twenty-seven reports without it

Not one of the 27 monthly reports since then, from June 2024 to August 2026, uses the word delay or overrun anywhere in its text. MoSPI's press release of 25 September 2026, which covers the report for August 2026, gives no count either. It says that spending of about 48.59 per cent of the revised cost is "indicating steady progress in project implementation".

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2024 ; MoSPI, Flash Report for July 2024 ; and each monthly report, listed under Sources & method.

MoSPI's own rule

The reports kept printing each project's anticipated date until June 2025, so the same rule still works. For June 2024, the first report without a printed count, the rule gives 889 delayed projects out of 1,810, which is more than in any of the 32 months from October 2021 to May 2024 for which MoSPI printed a count.

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2024 .

August 2026

MoSPI's report for August 2026 prints no count of delayed projects. Counted by Shri Ajay Maken's office from the dates in that report's own list, 981 of its 1,731 projects, which is 56.7 per cent, were still under way after the date that the report prints as their original or target completion date. This is a different measure from the count MoSPI printed to May 2024, because it also takes in projects whose later date has passed and leaves out projects whose original date had not yet come, so it cannot be compared with the 831 of May 2024. Of those 981 projects, 907 were approved in June 2014 or later, and 392 in October 2021 or later.

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2026 .

01 / The evidence

Delayed central projects, as MoSPI counted them

MoSPI printed the count in every monthly report that it issued from October 2021 to May 2024. It rose from 539 of 1,680 projects in October 2021 to 831 of 1,817 in May 2024, and it was highest in January 2023, at 871 of 1,454 projects, which is 59.9 per cent. The reports kept printing each project's anticipated date until June 2025, so the same rule still works. For June 2024, the first report without a printed count, the rule gives 889 delayed projects out of 1,810, which is more than in any of the 32 months from October 2021 to May 2024 for which MoSPI printed a count.

Delayed central projects, as MoSPI counted them, October 2021 to June 2025Projects delayed against their original schedule, each monthly reportCounted and printed by MoSPINot printed; worked out from the report's rows by MoSPI's rule02004006008001000Oct 21: 539 of 1680 projects539Nov 21: 541 of 1679 projectsDec 21: 557 of 1673 projectsJan 22: 514 of 1671 projectsFeb 22: 647 of 1565 projectsMar 22: 664 of 1579 projectsApr 22: 647 of 1559 projectsMay 22: 721 of 1568 projectsJun 22: 713 of 1514 projectsJul 22: 661 of 1505 projectsAug 22: 647 of 1526 projectsSep 22: 662 of 1529 projectsOct 22: 642 of 1521 projectsNov 22: 756 of 1476 projectsDec 22: 835 of 1438 projectsJan 23: 871 of 1454 projects871Feb 23: 823 of 1418 projectsMar 23: 821 of 1449 projectsApr 23: 821 of 1605 projectsMay 23: 814 of 1681 projectsJun 23: 815 of 1643 projectsJul 23: 809 of 1646 projectsAug 23: 830 of 1762 projectsSep 23: 842 of 1763 projectsOct 23: 837 of 1788 projectsNov 23: 845 of 1831 projectsDec 23: 848 of 1820 projectsJan 24: 780 of 1821 projectsFeb 24: 764 of 1902 projectsMar 24: 779 of 1873 projectsApr 24: 792 of 1838 projectsMay 24: 831 of 1817 projects831Jun 24: 889 of 1810 projects889Jul 24: 883 of 1793 projectsAug 24: 862 of 1783 projectsSep 24: 844 of 1792 projectsOct 24: 826 of 1747 projectsNov 24: 822 of 1742 projectsDec 24: 817 of 1724 projectsJan 25: 771 of 1719 projectsFeb 25: 765 of 1682 projectsMar 25: 772 of 1677 projectsApr 25: 721 of 1670 projectsMay 25: 725 of 1637 projectsJun 25: 703 of 1595 projects703Oct 21Jan 22Apr 22Jul 22Oct 22Jan 23Apr 23Jul 23Oct 23Jan 24Apr 24Jul 24Oct 24Jan 25Apr 25Last printed count, May 2024
Projects delayed against their original schedule, each monthly report
Counted and printed by MoSPINot printed; worked out from the report's rows by MoSPI's rule
Delayed central projects, as MoSPI counted them, October 2021 to June 20252004006008001000871831889703Oct 21Jul 22Apr 23Jan 24Apr 25Last printed count, May 2024
Each bar is one monthly report. The blue bars are MoSPI's own printed count, and the gold bars are the count worked out from the same report's rows by MoSPI's rule, after the count stopped appearing. The reports from July 2025 print no anticipated date, so the chart ends in June 2025.
June 2025: 703
Download data (CSV) Chart image

Source: MoSPI, monthly Flash Reports on central sector infrastructure projects; each report's address is in its CSV row and under Sources & method.

View the figures in a table
Delayed central projects, as MoSPI counted them
ReportFigureHow it is readMoSPI report
December 2021557printed by MoSPIMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2021
December 2022835printed by MoSPIMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2022
December 2023848printed by MoSPIMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2023
December 2024817from the report's rows, by MoSPI's ruleMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2024
June 2025703from the report's rows, by MoSPI's ruleMoSPI, Flash Report for June 2025
02 / The evidence

The cost overrun on each report's own figures

The cost overrun is the amount by which the anticipated cost of the projects exceeds their original cost. MoSPI printed an overrun in every report to May 2024. Measured on all the projects in each report, it stayed between 17.39 per cent and 22.92 per cent of original cost. In May 2024 it was Rs 5.71 lakh crore, or 20.70 per cent. In April 2025 the reports restated the original cost of railway projects. They listed the same 213 railway projects, by project code, in March and April 2025, and printed a new original cost for 107 of them. As a result, the original cost of the railway projects went from Rs 4,12,942 crore to Rs 6,31,897 crore. That rise of Rs 2.19 lakh crore is larger than the whole fall in the overrun that month, so the overrun on the reports' own figures went from 20.43 per cent to 11.12 per cent while the anticipated cost of all the projects rose.

The cost overrun on each report's own figures, October 2021 to June 2025Cost overrun, per cent of original cost, on each report's own figures0510152025Oct 21: 19.97 per centNov 21: 19.65 per centDec 21: 19.82 per centJan 22: 19.76 per centFeb 22: 21.65 per centMar 22: 22.01 per centApr 22: 22.92 per centMay 22: 22.92 per centJun 22: 21.99 per centJul 22: 22.19 per centAug 22: 21.88 per centSep 22: 21.28 per centOct 22: 21.63 per centNov 22: 21.69 per centDec 22: 22.12 per centJan 23: 21.67 per centFeb 23: 21.92 per centMar 23: 22.02 per centApr 23: 20.34 per centMay 23: 19.86 per centJun 23: 19.48 per centJul 23: 19.46 per centAug 23: 19.08 per centSep 23: 19.22 per centOct 23: 17.39 per centNov 23: 17.54 per centDec 23: 18.65 per centJan 24: 18.41 per centFeb 24: 18.19 per centMar 24: 18.65 per centApr 24: 20.09 per centMay 24: 20.70 per centJun 24: 20.85 per centJul 24: 20.88 per centAug 24: 20.67 per centSep 24: 20.91 per centOct 24: 19.15 per centNov 24: 19.27 per centDec 24: 19.67 per centJan 25: 19.92 per centFeb 25: 20.44 per centMar 25: 20.43 per centApr 25: 11.12 per centMay 25: 10.76 per centJun 25: 10.79 per centOct 21Jan 22Apr 22Jul 22Oct 22Jan 23Apr 23Jul 23Oct 23Jan 24Apr 24Jul 24Oct 24Jan 25Apr 25Printed by MoSPIFrom the two totals each later report prints19.9720.7020.4311.12April 2025: original costs restated
Cost overrun, per cent of original cost, on each report's own figures
Printed by MoSPIFrom the two totals each later report prints
The cost overrun on each report's own figures, October 2021 to June 2025510152025Oct 21Jul 22Apr 23Jan 24Apr 2519.9720.7020.4311.12April 2025: original costs restated
Each point is one monthly report. The blue points are the overrun MoSPI printed, and the gold points are worked out by MoSPI's own formula from the two totals a report prints. The step in April 2025 is the restatement of original costs.
June 2025: 10.79
Download data (CSV) Chart image

Source: MoSPI, monthly Flash Reports on central sector infrastructure projects; each report's address is in its CSV row and under Sources & method.

View the figures in a table
The cost overrun on each report's own figures
ReportFigureHow it is readMoSPI report
December 202119.82printed by MoSPIMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2021
December 202222.12printed by MoSPIMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2022
December 202318.65printed by MoSPIMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2023
December 202419.67from the report's two printed totalsMoSPI, Flash Report for December 2024
June 202510.79from the report's two printed totalsMoSPI, Flash Report for June 2025
03 / The evidence

August 2026: past the original or target completion date

MoSPI's report for August 2026 prints no count of delayed projects. Counted by Shri Ajay Maken's office from the dates in that report's own list, 981 of its 1,731 projects, which is 56.7 per cent, were still under way after the date that the report prints as their original or target completion date. This is a different measure from the count MoSPI printed to May 2024, because it also takes in projects whose later date has passed and leaves out projects whose original date had not yet come, so it cannot be compared with the 831 of May 2024. Of those 981 projects, 907 were approved in June 2014 or later, and 392 in October 2021 or later.

August 2026: past the original or target completion dateThe 1,731 ongoing projects in MoSPI's Flash Report for August 2026981750Still under way after the original or target completion date: 56.7 per centThe original or target completion date not yet reached: the remaining 750 projectsSource: MoSPI, monthly Flash Reports; counts from June 2024 worked out by the office of Shri Ajay Maken.
The 1,731 ongoing projects in MoSPI's Flash Report for August 2026
August 2026: past the original or target completion date981750
Still under way after the original or target completion date: 56.7 per cent The original or target completion date not yet reached: the remaining 750 projects
Source: MoSPI, monthly Flash Reports; counts from June 2024 worked out by the office of Shri Ajay Maken.
The red part of the bar is the projects whose original or target completion date had passed while they were still listed as under way. The office counted them from the dates in the report's own list.
Original or target completion date not yet reached: 750
Download data (CSV) Chart image

Source: MoSPI, monthly Flash Reports on central sector infrastructure projects; each report's address is in its CSV row and under Sources & method.

View the figures in a table
August 2026: past the original or target completion date
ReportFigureHow it is readMoSPI report
Past the original or target completion date981counted from the report's own listMoSPI, Flash Report for August 2026
Original or target completion date not yet reached750counted from the report's own listMoSPI, Flash Report for August 2026
The search

Twenty-seven reports without a count

Every report since June 2024 has been searched, page by page, for the words delay, overrun, slippage and behind schedule. None of the 27 reports carries any of them, and neither does MoSPI's press release of 25 September 2026.

Each report since June 2024, its pages, and the words of a delay count found in its text
ReportPagesWords found
June 20243090
July 20242690
August 20242480
September 20242530
October 20242780
November 20242820
December 20242190
January 20252440
February 20252510
March 20252440
April 20252730
May 20252120
June 20252340
July 2025670
August 2025670
September 2025720
October 2025730
November 2025730
December 20251080
January 20261340
February 20261680
March 20261580
April 20261630
May 20261590
June 20261610
July 20261530
August 20261530

MoSPI's press release of 25 September 2026, which covers the report for August 2026, gives no count either. It says that spending of about 48.59 per cent of the revised cost is "indicating steady progress in project implementation".

MoSPI's own reports had warned that the overrun figures might be understated. Its report for March 2024 says: "It has also been observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which suggests that time/cost overrun figures may be under-reported." The same warning ran in every report from October 2021 to March 2024, and the report for October 2021 says the figures "are under-reported". It does not appear in any report from April 2024 onward.

Source: MoSPI, press release on the August 2026 report, 25 September 2026 ; MoSPI, Flash Report for March 2024 .

Next

What the September report will be read against

MoSPI's press release of 25 September 2026 says that the report for September 2026 will come out on 26 October 2026. When it comes, it will be read against the figures for August 2026 in the table below.

MoSPI's Flash Report for August 2026: the figures the September report will be read against
What the report shows for August 2026FigureWhere it is read
Projects listed as under way1,731the report's overview page
Original cost of those projectsRs 30,71,947 crorethe report's overview page
Revised cost of those projectsRs 33,60,069 crorethe report's overview page
Spent on them so farRs 16,32,561 crore, 48.59 per cent of revised costthe report's overview page
Projects commissioned during the month47the report's overview page
Projects added during the month37the report's overview page
Still under way after the original or target completion date981, which is 56.7 per centcounted by the office from the report's list
Count of delayed projects printed by MoSPInone since May 2024searched in every report since June 2024

Source: MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2026 ; MoSPI, press release on the August 2026 report, 25 September 2026 .

The first test is whether the report prints a count of delayed projects or a cost overrun again. The second is how many projects are past their original completion date, counted the same way as above.

From July 2025 the report no longer prints an anticipated cost or an anticipated date. It prints an original and a revised cost, and an original or target date with a revised date beside it.

MoSPI stopped printing the count of delayed projects after May 2024, yet the dates in its own report for August 2026 show 981 projects still under way after their original or target completion date.

Terms, explained

Flash Report
The Flash Report is MoSPI's monthly report on central sector infrastructure projects that cost Rs 150 crore or more, as the line ministries report them.
Original completion date
The original completion date is the date of commissioning fixed when the project was approved. The reports to June 2025 call it the original date of commissioning, and the reports from July 2025 print it in a column headed "Orignal/Target DoC".
Anticipated completion date
The anticipated completion date is the date by which the implementing agency now expects to finish. The reports printed it until June 2025.
Delayed project
MoSPI counted a project as delayed when its anticipated completion date was later than its original date and had not yet passed. The reports to May 2024 call this delay "with respect to their original schedules".
Cost overrun
The cost overrun is the anticipated cost less the original cost. MoSPI printed it in rupees crore and as a share of original cost until May 2024.
Past the original completion date
A project is past its original completion date when a report lists it as under way in a month after that date. The office counts these from each report's list.
Keep the evidence

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Sources & method

MoSPI publishes a Flash Report every month on central sector infrastructure projects that cost Rs 150 crore or more. This brief reads all 59 reports from October 2021 to August 2026, each saved with its public address and its SHA-256 fingerprint.

To May 2024 every figure on delays and overruns is MoSPI's own, quoted from each report's summary page. Where a summary sentence disagrees with the report's own totals, the totals are used, and the brief says so.

From June 2024 MoSPI prints no count, so the office applied MoSPI's own rule to the dates that each report prints in its list of projects. The rule reproduces MoSPI's printed count exactly in 30 of the 32 reports that printed one.

Every figure is rounded once from the unrounded value. The downloadable files carry each report's figures, together with the address of the report that they come from.

  1. MoSPI, Flash Report for October 2021 .
  2. MoSPI, Flash Report for November 2021 .
  3. MoSPI, Flash Report for December 2021 .
  4. MoSPI, Flash Report for January 2022 .
  5. MoSPI, Flash Report for February 2022 .
  6. MoSPI, Flash Report for March 2022 .
  7. MoSPI, Flash Report for April 2022 .
  8. MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2022 .
  9. MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2022 .
  10. MoSPI, Flash Report for July 2022 .
  11. MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2022 .
  12. MoSPI, Flash Report for September 2022 .
  13. MoSPI, Flash Report for October 2022 .
  14. MoSPI, Flash Report for November 2022 .
  15. MoSPI, Flash Report for December 2022 .
  16. MoSPI, Flash Report for January 2023 .
  17. MoSPI, Flash Report for February 2023 .
  18. MoSPI, Flash Report for March 2023 .
  19. MoSPI, Flash Report for April 2023 .
  20. MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2023 .
  21. MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2023 .
  22. MoSPI, Flash Report for July 2023 .
  23. MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2023 .
  24. MoSPI, Flash Report for September 2023 .
  25. MoSPI, Flash Report for October 2023 .
  26. MoSPI, Flash Report for November 2023 .
  27. MoSPI, Flash Report for December 2023 .
  28. MoSPI, Flash Report for January 2024 .
  29. MoSPI, Flash Report for February 2024 .
  30. MoSPI, Flash Report for March 2024 .
  31. MoSPI, Flash Report for April 2024 .
  32. MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2024 .
  33. MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2024 .
  34. MoSPI, Flash Report for July 2024 .
  35. MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2024 .
  36. MoSPI, Flash Report for September 2024 .
  37. MoSPI, Flash Report for October 2024 .
  38. MoSPI, Flash Report for November 2024 .
  39. MoSPI, Flash Report for December 2024 .
  40. MoSPI, Flash Report for January 2025 .
  41. MoSPI, Flash Report for February 2025 .
  42. MoSPI, Flash Report for March 2025 .
  43. MoSPI, Flash Report for April 2025 .
  44. MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2025 .
  45. MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2025 .
  46. MoSPI, Flash Report for July 2025 .
  47. MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2025 .
  48. MoSPI, Flash Report for September 2025 .
  49. MoSPI, Flash Report for October 2025 .
  50. MoSPI, Flash Report for November 2025 .
  51. MoSPI, Flash Report for December 2025 .
  52. MoSPI, Flash Report for January 2026 .
  53. MoSPI, Flash Report for February 2026 .
  54. MoSPI, Flash Report for March 2026 .
  55. MoSPI, Flash Report for April 2026 .
  56. MoSPI, Flash Report for May 2026 .
  57. MoSPI, Flash Report for June 2026 .
  58. MoSPI, Flash Report for July 2026 .
  59. MoSPI, Flash Report for August 2026 .
  60. MoSPI, press release on the August 2026 report, 25 September 2026 .
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