'Slow coach': 188 rail projects delayed over poor zonal planning

156 rail projects miss submission deadline, 32 await compliance

At a time when the national transporter is facing flak for delays and deficient project planning, the Ministry of Railways has indicated to all zonal railways the poor quality of detailed project reports (DPRs) causing difficulties in close to 200 projects, Business Standard has learnt.

The issue was highlighted by the newly formed Gati Shakti Directorate of the railway board in a letter addressed to all zonal railways. It said that about 156 projects had missed the deadline for submitting fresh submissions, while 32 projects with initial estimates of over Rs 40,000 crore are yet to be revised after several rounds of reviews.

Officials said the matter was also discussed at the ministry’s Chintan Shivir held earlier this month, headed by Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

“It is noted that the quality of DPRs is not up to the mark and requires improvement. Even important aspects, such as detailed justification, traffic survey, and financial/economic appraisal, which form the crux of DPR, are not properly incorporated in the DPR. As a result, the approval of DPRs involves several rounds of discussions at the level of the railway board,” the letter, issued on June 16 and addressed to all zonal railways, said.

Seeing the disoriented way projects were being planned by zonal railways, the ministry issued a standard proforma for DPR preparation in September 2022. However, the recent communication suggests some issues remain unresolved.

“The planning of projects at the DPR stage is the most critical activity for successful execution of projects in a time-bound manner. It is requested that DPRs are critically reviewed at the zonal railway level before submission to the railway board,” the letter added.

An official in the know of the development told Business Standard that the issue has been taken up by zonal railways after a rap, and 22 of these projects will be reviewed on Thursday itself. He added that all planning deficiencies are being monitored by the railway board for safer execution in a time-bound manner.

Poor project planning in infrastructure has been under the scanner for a while now. This was after several road and railway projects were found deficient in several aspects in the past. Notably, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has been one of the most vocal critics of poor-quality DPRs.

Experts agree that these issues need to be fixed as several problems come up years later due to deficient project reports.

“From the date of DPR preparation to project award, the time lag is significant, thereby resulting in significant cost variations. Executing agencies should aim at reducing the time lag,” said Rajeshwar Burla, senior vice-president and group head, corporate and infrastructure ratings, ICRA.

“Technical feasibility and right-of-way availability are other issues. While the agency preparing DPR will make certain recommendations on a best-effort basis, there have been several lacunae in the submissions from a practical perspective. For instance, there have been instances of DPRs suggesting alignment but the actual work front availability was at odds, indicating that perhaps the reports were submitted based on certain documentary evidence rather than ground reality. The problem with this approach is that a lot of time gets consumed to get changes to the plan implemented and approved,” he added. 

Experts said that contractors should not be exposed to uncertainties due to shortcomings in project planning.

“It is noted that the quality of DPRs is not up to the mark and requires improvement. Even important aspects, such as detailed justification, traffic survey, and financial/economic appraisal, which form the crux of DPR, are not properly incorporated in the DPR…”

GATI SHAKTI DIRECTORATE

In a letter to zonal railways

“From the date of DPR preparation to project award, the time lag is significant, thereby resulting in significant cost variations. Executing agencies should aim at reducing the time lag”

RAJESHWAR BURLA

Senior V-P & group head, corporate and infrastructure ratings, ICRA