Page 2 - Cag

Karnataka debt jumps to ₹63,000 cr in FY24; CAG blames guarantee schemes

Karnataka's debt rose to ₹63,000 crore in 2023-24, with CAG flagging diversion of ?5,299 crore from infrastructure funds to guarantee schemes, raising concerns over public finances

Bihar failed to submit utilisation reports for ₹70,000 cr projects: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pulled up the Bihar government for failing to submit utilisation certificates for projects worth Rs 70,877 crore. The report of the CAG on State Finances for the year 2023-24 was tabled in the state assembly on Thursday. "Despite the requirement of submitting UCs within the stipulated time period, 49,649 outstanding UCs of Rs 70,877.61 crore were not received by the Accountant General (Accounts & Entitlements), Bihar, as on March 31, 2024," it said. In the absence of UCs, there is no assurance that funds disbursed have been used for the intended purpose, the report said. "Moreover, high pendency of UCs is fraught with the risk of embezzlement, misappropriation and diversion of funds," it said. Of the total Rs 70,877.61 crore, Rs 14,452.38 crore pertained to the period up to 2016-17. The top five defaulting departments are Panchayati Raj (Rs 28,154.10 crore), Education (Rs 12,623.67 crore), Urban Development (Rs 11,065.50 crore), Rural

CAG loss estimate on BSNL-RJIL deal misread, correction done: MoS Telecom

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India estimates on losses to BSNL from Reliance Jio Infocomm was based on the misinterpretation of a clause on add-on technology, and it has been rectified in a transparent and equitable manner, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. The CAG report tabled in Parliament in April had said the government suffered a loss of Rs 1,757.56 crore as state-owned telecom firm BSNL failed to bill Reliance Jio for 10 years since May 2014 as per their agreement on passive infrastructure sharing. "BSNL has Master Service Agreements (MSAs) with M/s RJIL, for leasing of BSNL's tower infrastructure to install their equipment. There is no revenue loss to BSNL and government. The estimate of CAG was based on the misinterpretation of the clause of add-on technology, which has now been rectified in a transparent and equitable manner. BSNL has since raised the revised invoices from RJIL," Minister of State for Telecom, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar said in the Lok Sabha in

CAG, Janaagraha sign MoU to strengthen ULG finances, digital audits

The five-year non-financial partnership aims to improve transparency, audit quality, and financial management in India's urban local governments through digital reforms

CAG forms separate vertical for auditing of 1,600 state public sector units

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has set up a separate unit for auditing of about 1,600 public sector undertakings (PSUs) run by various state governments for faster auditing and achieving greater efficiency. "Very recently a separate vertical has been created. An order has been issued. Once this vertical comes up, one location will have positions for auditing only state PSUs of a particular state," Deputy CAG K S Subramanian (HR, IR, Coord and Legal) said. This will help in faster auditing of state PSUs and improving efficiency of public enterprises, he said, adding, this is similar to the Central Public Sector Enterprises which are audited by a separate vertical. Currently, state PSUs are audited by members of senior management which has to do auditing of 4-5 states rather than one particular region, Subramanian said, adding, it takes time. A separate vertical would help in consolidation of information of all state PSUs and it will be easy for stakeholders to compar

CAG engaging CA firms will not compromise auditor's independence, says ICAI

Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI on Friday said the engagement of CA firms by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) will not compromise the independence of the apex auditor. The comments from ICAI comes in the backdrop of Madurai MP S Venkatesan (CPM) writing a letter to President Droupadi Murmu objecting to the CAG's plan to hire CA firms for auditing of central autonomous bodies will strengthen the auditing process. In a detailed statement, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) said the engagement of CA firms by the CAG is in no way a compromise of its independence or constitutional function. "... Rather (it is) a strategic step to ensure effective coverage, domain-specific audit quality, and timely audit execution," it said. Further, the statement said, the move is fully supported by professional standards, and ethical safeguards embedded in the ICAI's framework. "Additionally, the scheme is expected to contribute to the organisation's (CAG) capacity .

Odisha govt lost Rs 864.45 crore mineral revenue during 2015-22: CAG report

The Odisha government has "lost revenue of Rs 864.45 crore" from minor mineral sources during the financial years 2015-16 to 2021-22, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in its latest report. In its audit report on collection of revenue from minor minerals, the CAG said the government failed to collect Rs 864.45 crore towards the District Mineral Fund (DMF) and Environment Management Fund (EMF) on royalty from minor minerals supplied by contractors and used in public projects without valid transit passes amounting to Rs 4,624.58 crore. The authorities in charge of public projects deducted royalty amounting to Rs 4,624.58 crore from the bills of contractors or project executants due to non-production of valid transit passes and purchase receipts in support of procurement from authorised sources. A total of Rs 885.70 crore towards DMF and EMF on royalty was to be realised in the state, during 2016-22. However, the authorities in charge of public projects in 14 ...

BSNL's failure to bill Jio for a decade cost govt Rs 1,757 crore: CAG

CAG report reveals BSNL's decade-long lapse in enforcing billing terms with Jio, leading to massive revenue loss and financial discrepancies in infrastructure sharing

Delhi Assembly to discuss Mustafabad name change, CAG report on DTC today

AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha will present a resolution on the implementation of free distribution of gas cylinders on special occasions by the Delhi government

DTC's liabilities increase by Rs 37,000 crore in 5 years: CAG report

The Delhi Transport Corporation's (DTC) liabilities rose from Rs 28,263 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 65,274 crore in 2021-22, as it incurred operational losses of more than Rs 14,000 crore during the same period, according to a CAG report tabled in the Assembly on Monday. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta tabled the report on the functioning of the DTC for the year ending March 31, 2022, in the budget session. The report highlighted that the public transporter had not prepared any Business Plan or Perspective Plan, nor signed any MoU with the state government to set physical and financial targets to contain its working losses. The transporter was also found not to have set benchmark to asses its performance as against other state transport undertakings. The DTC did not conduct any study on profitability/sustainability even though it was incurring losses continuously, the report noted. Between 2015 and 2023, DTC's bus fleet reduced from 4,344 to 3,937 buses. It could procure only 300 elec

SC seeks Centre's reply on PIL challenging CAG appointment procedure

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre's response on a PIL seeking that the current practice of appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India solely by the executive and the prime minister be declared violative of the Constitution. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh issued notice on the PIL filed by an NGO, Centre for Public Interest Litigation, and tagged it with the pending matter on the same issue. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO, said that the question is of independence of the institution and alleged that audits by CAG of states like Maharashtra, where the BJP is in power, are being stalled. The PIL also sought direction of the court mandating that the CAG shall be appointed by the President in consultation with an independent and neutral selection committee comprising of the prime minister, the leader of the opposition (LoP) and the chief justice of India and in a transparent manner. It said that the direction for ...

Coming days not good for AAP: BJP MLA on 'irregularities' in CAG report

BJP MLA Lovely claimed that the AAP leaders are going to be trapped more poorly in the liquor scam

CAG reports to be tabled today; Delhi CM house, Mohalla clinics under lens

CAG reports will highlight alleged issues in the renovation of the Chief Minister's residence and Mohalla clinics under the earlier AAP government

BJP Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta nominated for Delhi Assembly Speaker post

Nominated for Delhi Assembly Speaker post, BJP leader and Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta said his priority will be to present the pending CAG reports in the House

CAG report to be tabled in Delhi Assembly's first sitting: PM after BJP win

AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal lost from the New Delhi seat, being unseated by BJP's Parvesh Sahib Singh by a margin of over 4 thousand votes. This marked the end of a 10-year-long stint of Kejriwal

CAG building infra & processes to harness AI&ML: Sanjay Murthy

India's apex auditor is building the necessary infrastructure and processes to harness artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning for auditing processes and to audit AI applications themselves as the country aims to become a USD 30-trillion economy by 2047, CAG K Sanjay Murthy said. Speaking at the World Forum of Accountants hosted by ICAI on Saturday, Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Murthy said a USD 30-trillion economy will be necessarily digital, as organisations expand into emerging areas, and global champions are born. Accounting and auditing professionals will have to provide the required support. "Adopting new technologies would help bring required efficiencies in the accounting and auditing processes. Taking a leadership role in developing and adapting innovative technological practices would also help Indian firms to become global champions," he said, while addressing the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) programme here on Saturday. Underlinin

Delhi HC to pass order over tabling of CAG reports in Assembly on Jan 24

The Delhi High Court will on January 24 pass order on a plea by Delhi opposition MLAs seeking a sitting of the Delhi assembly for tabling CAG reports. Justice Sachin Datta would pronounce the judgement. Opposition leader Vijender Gupta and BJP MLAs -- Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai and Jitendra Mahajan -- filed the petition last year and sought a direction to the speaker to call a sitting of the assembly for the purpose of tabling the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports. The petitioners filed the plea through advocates Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain. The senior lawyers for the speaker and the Delhi government opposed the passing of such a direction by the court and said there was no urgency to table the reports at this stage when the assembly elections were due to be held soon. In a reply, the assembly secretariat said no useful purpose would be served in laying CAG reports before the assembly when its tenure was .

'Dragging your feet': Delhi HC slams AAP over delay in tabling CAG report

The Delhi high court criticised the AAP-led Delhi government for delay in the submission of a crucial CAG report on the liquor scam, raising doubts about their handling of the matter

CAG report reveals Rs 2,026 crore revenue loss in Delhi liquor policy scam

The CAG report reveals a Rs 2,026 crore loss in the Delhi liquor policy scam, highlighting corruption, flawed licensing, ignored expert advice, and arrests of AAP leaders

BJP points at Kejriwal's 'deeds'; AAP says claims based on forged papers

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva on Monday claimed that a CAG report raised 139 questions related to the former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's previous Flagstaff Road residence and exposed his "black deeds" Hitting back, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh termed it as a classic diversionary tactic by the BJP and claimed that the saffron party had lost the narrative war in the run-up to the assembly elections. Addressing a press conference, Sachdeva said that the Comptroller and Auditor General's report of 2022 cited an expenditure of Rs 33.66 crore on the "Sheesh Mahal" but the actual cost was far higher. "This report pertains to expenditure till 2022. There is no revelation on expenses of 2023 and 2024 and, according to our information, the real cost runs up to Rs 75-80 crore if the inventory of the items in the bungalow is included," he claimed. The BJP has sharpened its attack on Kejriwal ahead of the Delhi Assembly polls, alleging corruption related to the 6, Flagstaf