The ministry of industry, mine, and trade said in the first 8 months of the current Iranian year (to end March 20), there were 4,145 unfinished industrial projects across the country with more than 80 percent progress, IRNA reported.
Non-metallic mineral projects constituted the majority of the figure with 1,104 projects, followed by 652 projects in food sector, 390 projects in rubber and plastic industry, and 308 ones in chemicals sector.
A considerable portion of the government budget has been stuck in these incomplete projects. Apart from unfinished industrial projects, major capital projects face the same problem. Earlier, Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, the government spokesman, said the administration inherited 2,906 unfinished capital projects, estimating that between 2 and 4 quadrillion rials (between $37.5 billion and $75 billion) is needed to finish all the incomplete projects.
According to Nobakht, priority was given to projects with over 80% progress in budget allocation. Considering the restrictions in financial resources and in order to speed up the completion of other unfinished projects without allocating big budgets, the current administration says it is willing to use cooperatives and the private sector’s capacities to finish the projects with less than 50% of progress.
In line with the decision, officials at the ministry of economic affairs and finance are working with those in the Tehran Stock Exchange to run a number of Project Funds with the aim of financing the incomplete projects..
