Piling unpaid loans of Odisha PSUs irk CAG

CAG report says in 2013-14, the govt advanced loan amounting to Rs 463 cr and a major portion of the loan (Rs 359 cr) was to the energy sector

The Comptroller & Auditor General of India (CAG) has vented displeasure over the state government's move to advance loans to PSUs without due diligence and assessment of their repayment capacity.

The CAG report says in 2013-14, the government advanced loan amounting to Rs 463 crore and a major portion of the loan (Rs 359 crore) was to the energy sector.

Loans outstanding as of March 31, 2014 aggregated to Rs 4183 crore. Of the total outstanding loans of Rs 4183 crore, terms and conditions for loan amount of Rs 1279.82 crore are yet to be settled. Besides, the terms and conditions for loan amount of Rs 1278.36 crore advanced to Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) Ltd were not settled during the last 18 years.

Scrutiny of the total outstanding loans revealed that loan amount ranging from Rs 2741 crore to Rs 3823 crore during 2009-10 to 2013-14 relating to 11 departments remained unaltered/marginally repaid for more than five years. The CAG report reveals that loans amounting to Rs 358.56 crore was advanced during2013-14 to Gridco Ltd from whom repayment of earlier loan to the extent of Rs 1988.95 crore was in arrear. Reasons for disbursement during the current year were not explained.

Besides this, Rs 203 crore remained as arrear on 18 other loanee entities at the end of March 2014, out of which Rs 6.90 crore was in arrear from Konark Television Ltd, which is a defunct company.

"Sanction of loan without assessing the loan repayment capacity of the loanee entity coupled with poor monitoring resulted in accumulation of unpaid loans for years together. Interest receipts increased steeply from Rs 16 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 610 crore during the current year. Similarly, interest received against the total outstanding loans and advances increased from 0.41 per cent in 2011-12 to 14.58 per cent in 2013-14.