Comptroller And Auditor General Of India

CAG audit finds E. coli in water, poor amenities at 458 railway stations

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) found that the Railway Ministry had framed several norms for passenger amenities at stations; however, zones failed to comply, leading to widespread discrepancies in services, including the presence of E. coli bacteria in drinking water from water coolers and unhygienic conditions in washrooms, among others. "Bacteriological analysis of drinking water was not carried out at 59 stations over six zones," the CAG said in its report -- Passenger amenities and sanitation at non-suburban railway stations in Indian Railways -- tabled in Parliament on August 12. "Water sample from water cooler was positive for E-coli at two stations (Coimbatore and Palakkad Junctions) in SR (Southern Railway), one station (Hyderabad) in SCR (South Central Railway), four stations (Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bhiwandi Road, Kalyan and Lonavala) in CR (Central Railway) and one station (Madhupur) in ER (Eastern Railway)," it added after studying ...

CAG flags ₹401 cr GST lapses in works contracts; revenue dept accepts

The CBIC accepted observations in 903 of the 1,334 cases detected by the auditor, involving Rs 268.36 crore, and has recovered Rs 15.88 crore so far.

CAG flags ₹3,541 cr excess spend in Maharashtra's 'Ladki Bahin' scheme

The auditor questioned the financial management of the flagship welfare scheme after finding excess expenditure and irregular fund withdrawals despite no immediate spending requirement

States spend just 55% of annual capex target by February: CAG data

Twenty-two states spend just over half of their FY26 capex target by February, lagging behind the Centre, while revenue spending and tax collections show steadier progress

Maharashtra ignored over 10k audit queries, ₹891 crore lapses possible: CAG

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged "systemic deficiencies" in Maharashtra's governance, identifying Rs 891 crore in possible financial irregularities across more than 10,000 audit queries that various departments ignored despite repeated reminders over a decade. The CAG, in the report tabled in the recently concluded budget session of the state assembly, criticised the delay by departments in filing action taken notes (ATNs), stating that the state's inability to address queries in 2,408 inspection reports (IRs) undermined "executive accountability" and "legislative oversight". The CAG has raised queries over the accounts, some dating back over a decade, but the departments have left them unanswered. As many as 2,408 IRs, containing 10,340 paragraphs (queries), were pending settlement as of June 2023, reflecting a significant backlog, even as a separate local audit for 2022-23 raised 2,119 objections involving revenue implications of Rs 891.29 crore, ...

Barring 8 days, Andhra relied on RBI borrowings during 2024-25: CAG report

The Andhra Pradesh government availed Rs 1.72 lakh crore through special drawing facility, ways and means advances and overdraft during 2024-25, ending up paying Rs 303 crore towards interest, according to a CAG report. The Comptroller and Auditor General report, which was tabled in the Assembly, on Friday said the state government maintained the minimum cash balance with the Reserve Bank of India for only eight days without availing any WMA from RBI. The report further stated that the government's revenue deficit exceeded the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) target of 2.7 per cent of GSDP, remaining at 3.75 per cent even in 2024-25. This forced the state to borrow for day-to-day expenses and significantly increased its interest burden. The fiscal deficit remained at 5.05 per cent against the mandated 4 per cent ceiling, driving total borrowings to Rs 81,071 crore, crowding out capital expenditure, worsening debt sustainability, and severely restricting fiscal spac

Broken Data: How states misclassify spending and distort fiscal math

The CAG has noted that such misclassification affects compliance under the FRBM Act, distorting revenue surplus, fiscal deficit and debt ratios

StatsGuru: States' pension burden overtook interest payments in 2022-23

CAG report shows pensions overtook interest costs in FY23 as states spent 43% of revenue on committed expenditure, including salaries, pensions, and debt servicing

Revenue deficit, capital spends: Key takeaways from 15th finance commission

The 15th FC had recommended a sizeable Rs. 2.9 trillion as revenue deficit grants (RDG) to a select number of states for FY2022-FY2026

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

Sivasubramanian Ramann takes charge as PFRDA chairperson for five years

Former SIDBI chairman brings decades of experience in finance and regulation as he assumes charge of pension regulator PFRDA for a five-year term or until age 65

CAG, IIM Mumbai sign pact on logistics, supply chain, inventory management

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India and the Indian Institute of Management, Mumbai, on Tuesday signed an agreement to enhance the efficiency and transparency of public sector logistics, supply chain and inventory management. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the presence of CAG K Sanjay Murthy and Director of IIM Mumbai Manoj Tiwari, the CAG office said in a release. "This MoU represents an initiative spearheaded by CAG of India, to actively engage with institutes of national importance, such as IIM Mumbai, excelling in various areas, to enhance the capacity building of Indian Audit and Accounts Department (IAAD) officials at a mass scale," it said. By collaborating with such prestigious institutions, the CAG aims to strengthen the auditing capabilities and improve resource management across government departments and public sector enterprises, the release said. The MoU, the CAG office said, focuses on leveraging IIM Mumbai's academic expertise to .

SC raps Uttarakhand for not filing affidavit in CAMPA funds misuse case

The Bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih said that the state had provided no explanation for why the funds (allocated for compensatory afforestation) were used to purchase iPhones and laptops

CAG Murthy, Arvind Panagariya hold consultation on public finance, revenue

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) K Sanjay Murthy on Wednesday held consultations with Chairman of 16th Finance Commission Arvind Panagariya on various aspects of public finance, including untapped revenue sources, GST administration, and standardisation of accounting practices in all tiers. The high-level consultation formed a critical part of the commission's ongoing assessment of the financial landscape of the Centre and states, the CAG office said in a release. The deliberations mainly focused on three key areas - Union and state finances, local bodies, and Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs). The Union, the states, local bodies and the PSEs are under the audit of the CAG. In addition, the CAG maintains the accounts of the states. The CAG shared various audit findings for the Union and states in different sectors, fiscal challenges and stress points, including the gap between expenditure and non-debt receipts for the Union and states combined. The key areas of concer

Additional expense of Rs 10.2 cr by Kerala to buy PPE kit during Covid: CAG

Despite having prescribed unit rates for PPE kits at Rs 545 to control prices, the government procured kits at much higher rates, up to 300 per cent above the unit rate, in March and April 2020

Govt appoints K Sanjay Murthy as next Comptroller and Auditor General

The government on Monday said K Sanjay Murthy will be the next Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Murthy, a 1989 batch IAS officer of Himachal Pradesh cadre, will succeed Girish Chandra Murmu. He is currently Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education. "By virtue of the power vested in her by clause (1) of article 148 of the Constitution of India, the President has been pleased to appoint K Sanjay Murthy to be the Comptroller and Auditor General of India with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office," said a notification issued by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance. Girish Chandra Murmu assumed office as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on August 8, 2020. He will complete his term on November 20.

CAG shines a light on state govts' expenses, asks officials for clarity

The CAG last week raised concerns over unclassified expenditures, questioning state finance secretaries over 'hidden' funds marked for various handouts

CAG plans to develop its own AI for fast writing of audit reports

Comptroller and Auditor General of India G C Murmu on Wednesday said the supreme audit institution is in the process of developing its own Artificial Intelligence (AI) protocol for faster writing of its audit reports. "For data analysis and various other things, we have our own system in place...for the writing (audit reports) we have now started, so we have to see," he said here. "Data is collected by our auditors at the field from the records...in some cases, we have to reclassify according to our requirement. For that we run analytics...cleaning is done through the analytics," he said. Once cleaning of data is done and classification and integration made as per the requirement, he said, adding that algorithm biases are hardly there in analysing data. He said about 35 audit reports would be tabled in both Parliament and state assemblies during the upcoming winter session. About 200 reports are presented in a year by the office of CAG. Speaking about 16th Assembly of the Asian .

Assam govt's outstanding debt rises 107% in 5 years from FY19: CAG

The Assam government's outstanding debt increased by over 107 per cent from 2018-19 to 2022-23 with the growth rate of outstanding liability also rising during the period, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report said on Friday. The report for the 2022-23 fiscal, which was tabled in the assembly, noted that the capital expenditure by the state government decreased by over 20 per cent in FY'23 as compared to 2021-22. The outstanding debt of the state "rapidly increased by 107.34 per cent from Rs 59,425.61 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 1,23,214.80 crore in 2022-23", the report said, adding that the growth rate of outstanding liability also increased from 20.60 per cent in 2018-19 to 23.32 per cent in 2022-23. The outstanding liabilities-GSDP ratio also rose from 19.21 per cent in 2018-19 to 24.98 per cent in FY'23 due to increased borrowings from the open market, the auditor said. The public debt constituted 81.98 per cent of the total borrowing at the end of 2022-23. During the year

CAG, General Court of Audit of Saudi Arabia sign pact for mutual support

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has signed a pact with the General Court of Audit, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to strengthen cooperation and exchange of expertise between the two nations in the field of public sector auditing. The area of cooperation encompasses conducting joint training programmes on topics related to financial, performance and compliance audits and exchange of audit manuals and audit methodologies, the CAG said. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday in Riyadh. "Our commitment to a strong bilateral relationship is a witness to the shared values and objectives of our institutions and will serve to reinforce bonds between our SAIs and our nations," CAG Girish Chandra Murmu said. The CAG stated that the support and cooperation between the two SAIs will energise their capacity development initiatives and encourage exchange of knowledge and information between the two Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs). Hussam Abdulmohsen Alangari,