Recently, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released its Quarterly Project Implementation Status Report (QPISR) for Q1 FY 2025-26. This report provides a detailed overview of the key high impact infrastructure projects which represent the backbone of India’s infrastructure push. The report offers insights into projects’ progress, challenges, and sectoral distribution.
The report classifies the high impact projects into ‘mega projects’, costing ₹1,000 crore or more, and ‘major projects’, costing between ₹150 crore and ₹1,000 crore.
The following are some of the key highlights of the reports:
Total projects under implementation
· At the end of 1QFY26, India had 1,734 (vs 789 in Q1FY25) central sector infrastructure projects (≥ ₹150 crore) under execution. Out of this, 619 are mega projects and 1115 are major projects, entailing a total outlay of Rs28.42trn (Rs10.97trn at end of 1QFY25). Out of these 224 projects with an outlay of Rs2.14trn are in North Eastern region.
· Out of the 1734 current projects under implementation, 1023 (59%) projects with an original outlay of Rs7.93trn (28%) are from roads & highway sector, while 214 (12%) projects with an original outlay of Rs6.32trn (22%) are from railways sector.
Top ten states dominate
· Ten states accounted for 57% of the total projects under implementation, with an original capital outlay of Rs14.97trn (53%). Maharashtra (187 projects, Rs2.42trn), UP (13 projects, Rs2.18 trn) and Gujarat (95 projects, Rs1.73trn) were the top three states.
· During 1QFY26, 116 projects, with outlay of Rs1.34trn, were declared completed, and 46 new projects with an outlay of Rs512bn were added. In this period 13 projects with an outlay of Rs80bn were dropped/downgraded.
Execution best in road sector
· The completed projects include, 81 Road transport and highways projects, 11 railways projects, 7 each of power and petroleum sector. The new sanctions include 17 projects each from the Road & Highways and Power sector, 7 steel projects, 4 coal projects and 1 railway project. New power sector projects are dominated by renewable and transmission upgrades.
Urban development projects gaining importance
· There are 150 (11% of total projects) projects related to urban development are under implementation. Capital outlay for these projects is Rs3.5 trn (13% of total anticipated cost).
· Urban development projects mainly include metro systems, smart cities, and urban housing initiatives.
Cost overrun and delays
· Total original approved outlay on the large 1734 projects was Rs28.42trn. The revised/anticipated cost to complete the projects is however 11% higher at 31.58trn. Out of this a cost of Rs17.74 (56.2%) has been already incurred.
· Approximately 70% of projects are on schedule, but 30% face delays due to land acquisition issues, scope creep, and delays in administrative and environmental clearances.
Human capital sectors lag behind
· Capital outlay for the health and education sector has remained chronically low in India. This sector is significantly underfunded, with only a fraction of resources allocated to hospitals, medical colleges, and educational institutions.
· In the current pipeline, there are only 8 projects related to health sector with an outlay of Rs73bn and 20 projects related to education sector with an outlay of rs103bn (a meager 3% allocation for both key sectors)
· There are 40 projects related to water and irrigation (3% of total projects) with an outlay of Rs1trn (4% of total anticipated cost).
Conclusion
India has a strong infrastructure pipeline which augurs well for the economic growth in the short term. However, the heavy focus on roads and highways reflects a policy bias toward economic infrastructure. While this may boost short-term GDP growth, the long-term consequences of underfunding social infrastructure could be detrimental to sustainability.
Another notable feature is skewed regional distribution of projects and execution efficiency. A few states have been traditionally allocated
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