The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has said that the return on investments made by the Telangana government in State public sector units, corporations and cooperatives was low while the average rate of interest at which it borrows was seven times higher.
“The State’s overall investments in statutory corporations, government companies, joint stock companies and cooperatives stood at ₹16,365 crore. The return on investment was low at 0.62 per cent,” the CAG said in is report onthe State’s finances for 2017-18.
This, however, was far higher than the interest rate at which the government borrowed.
“The government borrowed at an average rate of 7.21 per cent,” it said.
The CAG’s local office submitted the report to the Telangana Assembly on Sunday.
Loans and advances
The loans and advances given by the government to autonomous bodies and corporations were ₹15,689 crore.
They accrued only 0.53 per cent as interest.
It said the government gave fresh loans to three autonomous bodies for servicing their past loans.
“Loans to the tune of ₹428 crore went without any terms and conditions,” it said.
The CAG said that the State’s contribution to the National Pension System (NPS) always fell short of the targeted amount.
NPS contributions
“It was short by ₹50 crore compared to employees’ contribution. It happened in the previous years too. It fell short by ₹72 crore in 2016-17 and ₹20 crore in 2014-15,” it noted.
While the State transferred ₹927 crore to the National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) in 2017-18. It is yet to remit ₹165 crore (by the end of March 31, 2018).
“Persistent short contributions and remittances to the NSDL or Trustee bank, and not crediting the interest on un-transferred amount could, if not attended to, inevitably lead to bankruptcy of the NPS corpus and eventual failure of the scheme, hurting the interest of the subscribers,” it observed.