The Bengal government has decided to review 600-odd projects, which chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced over the last decade or so but could not be rolled out because of a variety of reasons, and scrap the ones that have lost relevance.

There are 602 projects, which were worth about Rs 3,500 crore and announced by the chief minister in the past 10 years but could not be kicked off as yet.

“All these projects are being reviewed. If the projects have lost relevance, they will be scrapped.... It will save a huge amount of money at a time when there is an acute crisis of funds,” said a senior government official.

While taking a decision on the schemes that should be scrapped, the focus will be on the necessity of the projects, added the source.

“We have found that many projects have lost relevance these days as these were announced a long ago. For example, a new hospital building was announced in a district some six years ago. But after that, a super-speciality hospital has come up within a radius of 4km. Now, the proposed hospital has no relevance,” said a source.

Similarly, a honey hub was announced at Deganga in North 24-Parganas in 2019 at a cost of Rs 9.71 crore. But the work did not start as the government did not allot the required money.

“The state will take up only those projects which are absolutely necessary,” he added.

Besides, a total of 266projects, which were kicked off following the chief minister’s announcement but areincomplete even after 5-10 years, are causing a headache for the cash-strapped government.

“These projects will be reviewed to ensure that they are completed at the earliest. In case any of these projects have lost relevance, the government can scrap some of them,” the official added.

Sources at Nabanna said the majority of the projects which could not be completed on time always led to cost escalation and the state couldn’t spend more on them because of struggling coffers.

“For example, a Cultural Bhavan was proposed to be constructed in Bankura six years ago. As the project could not be completed, the estimated cost has gone up from Rs 2.05 crore to more than Rs 2.75 crore. Now, it is difficult for the state to allot the additional money and the file is pending at Nabanna,” said a source.

Not only this, a hut shed in Barasat municipality was planned six years ago at a cost of Rs 2.91 crore. The first instalment of Rs 1.10 crore was allotted on time. But the second and third instalments were not released on time, leading to cost escalation.

The sources said in the case of projects which were delayed, the failure of the executing agencies to complete them on time had left the state in an awkward situation.

“For example, the public works department has a total of 108 pending projects.... As all the delayed projects lead to cost escalation, the executing agencies cannot shrug off their responsibility,” said a source.

A section of officials said it was easier for the government to scrap the projects which were not kicked off yet.

“Non-starter projects can be scrapped at any time as no money has been spent on them. But scrapping the delayed projects will be relatively tough as funds have already been spent on them,” said a source.