Owing to cost overrun, the cost of railway projects across the country has risen from Rs 36,930 crore to Rs 91,902 crore. This is around 148 percent rise in expenditure or about Rs 55,000 crore, reports indicate.

For example, a large number of railway projects in Bihar implemented during the tenure of former Railway Ministers Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad are facing delay owing to several reasons.

Some reports indicate that railway projects worth about Rs 10,000 crore are facing delayed owing to paucity of funds or for other reasons in the state.

They include Digha-Sonepur rail cum road bridge, among the three mega bridges. Munger rail bridge and Nirmali bridge over Kosi river in north Bihar, which have already overrun the cost owing to delay in their completion and escalation of prices of steel, iron, cement and other construction materials.

The cost of the Digha-Sonepur bridge has risen from Rs 1,400 crore to Rs 2,400 crore owing to delay in the project. If the project is delayed further, cost could rise more.