The government canceled 42 public works projects for being unnecessary or inefficient in fiscal 2005, up by 30 from the prior year, for a total of 840 billion yen, according to a government white paper released Friday.

The canceled projects consist of 23 by the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry, 13 by the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, five by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, and one by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

The infrastructure ministry projects that were canceled included railway and dam projects, including a subway project in Kawasaki for which the ministry initially earmarked 460 billion yen.