New Delhi, March 15 : As many as 725 projects of the total 1,801 ongoing projects related to road, transport and highway across the country are running behind the schedule due to multiple reasons, the Central government informed the Parliament on Wednesday. "As of February, 2023, there are 1,801 ongoing projects, of which 725 projects are running behind the schedule across the country due to protracted monsoon in many states, above average rainfall in some states, Covid-19 pandemic, increase in price of raw materials (mainly steel), issues or bottlenecks relating to land acquisition, statutory clearances or permissions, utility shifting, encroachment removal, law & order, non-availability of soil/aggregate, financial crunch of concessionaire or contractor, poor performance of contractor or concessionaire, etc," the Ministry of Road Transport and Highway said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The ministry further said that additional cost is not incurred in all delayed projects. "In Build??Operate??Transfer (BOT) projects, there is no cost escalation due to the delay as escalation cost is absorbed by the concessionaire." For other projects, if delay is attributable to the project authority, price escalation is paid as per contract conditions, which may or may not result in additional cost, depending upon the final value of price escalation determined on actual completion of project and final settlement of bills. However, if delay is attributable to the contractor, damages are imposed and price escalation is not paid, and there is no additional cost due to delay, the ministry noted. /IANS