Audit Reports
Himachal Pradesh
Report of 2009 - Financial Audit on Commercial of Government of Himachal Pradesh
Overview
Audit of Government companies is governed by Section 619 of the Companies Act, 1956. The accounts of Government companies are audited by Statutory Auditors appointed by CAG. These accounts are also subject to supplementary audit conducted by CAG. Audit of Statutory corporations is governed by their respective legislations. As on 31 March 2009, the State of Himachal Pradesh had 20 working PSUs (17 companies and three Statutory corporations) and three non-working PSUs (all companies), which employed 42,204 employees. The working PSUs registered a turnover of Rs. 4,629.88 crore for 2008-09 as per their latest finalised accounts. This turnover was equal to 12.53 per cent of State GDP indicating an important role played by the State PSUs in the economy. However, the working PSUs incurred overall loss of Rs. 0.12 crore in 2008-09 and had accumulated losses of Rs. 943.78 crore.
As on 31 March 2009, the investment (Capital and long term loans) in 23 PSUs was Rs. 4,256.01 crore which declined by over 16 per cent from Rs. 5,104.22 crore in 2003-04. Power sector accounted for nearly 72 per cent of the total investment in 2008-09. The Government contributed Rs. 703.85 crore towards equity, loans and grants/subsidies during 2008-09.
During the year 2008-09, out of 20 working PSUs, eight PSUs earned profit of Rs. 47.68 crore and equal number of PSUs incurred loss of Rs. 47.80 crore. Three working PSUs had not started commercial activities and in respect of one working PSU, excess of expenditureover income was reimbursable by the State Government. The major contributors to profit were Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (Rs. 32.31 crore) and Himachal Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation Limited (Rs. 9.74 crore). The heavy losses were incurred by Himachal Road Transport Corporation (Rs. 34.18 crore) and Himachal Pradesh Financial Corporation (Rs. 6.32 crore). The losses were attributable to various deficiencies in the functioning of PSUs. A review of three years Audit Reports of CAG shows that the state PSUs losses of Rs. 550.50 crore and infructuous investment of Rs. 8.58 crore were controllable with better management. Thus, there is tremendous scope to improve the functioning and minimise/eliminate losses. The PSUs can discharge their role efficiently only if they are financially self-reliant. There is a need for professionalism and accountability in the functioning of PSUs.