‘Mumbai infra projects worth ₹2.63L crore affected by lockdown’

As many as 794 projects worth ₹2.63 lakh crore have been affected owing to the pandemic-ensued lockdown in Mumbai, a survey by project-monitoring organization Projects

As many as 794 projects worth ₹2.63 lakh crore have been affected owing to the pandemic-ensued lockdown in Mumbai, a survey by project-monitoring organization Projects Today shows. Of the 794, 73% were government projects, while 26% were private projects, majorly real-estate developments.

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Apart from Mumbai, the top cities where projects have been affected include 539 projects in Bengaluru (worth ₹1.06 lakh crore), 607 in Pune (worth ₹89 thousand crore), 117 in Nagpur (worth ₹88 thousand crore) and 87 in Nellore (worth ₹71 thousand crore). “Together the five cities account for 29.3% of the total projects under execution in 108 hotspot districts,” the report ‘Projects Scenario Post Covid-19’ notes.

The state government has been undertaking a massive infrastructure overhaul in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with the plan to build a 337-km Metro network, the 22-km Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, and the coastal road connecting south Mumbai to the western suburbs. However, the works were stopped following the lockdown, and the agencies have also been facing issues with migrant workers leaving the city.

“Most projects will face an overrun of a minimum of six months. Labour shortage and the upcoming monsoon season will prove to be a big hurdle for most of the infrastructure projects to restart properly,” said Shashikant Hegde, CEO, Projects Today. The organisation has been monitoring 74,000 projects across India from the time of their announcement.

The report also notes that Maharashtra tops the list in terms of ‘Covid-halted projects investment’, the state is followed by Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat.

The organisation also conducted a survey of 233 architects, contractors, and consultants from 14 states and 30 cities in May. When asked about the hurdles these projects will face post-lockdown, 56.2% of the respondents said that finding the requisite number of labourers is going to be the biggest hurdle. Around 53% of the participants said that financing the projects will be a major hurdle. Apart from this, sourcing raw materials, arranging transport, and policy decisions will also affect the revival of projects, the responders said.