Audit Reports
Karnataka
Report of 2011 - Financial Audit on Commercial of Government of Karnataka
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 the CAG. These accounts are also subject to supplementary audit conducted by the CAG. Audit of Statutory Corporations is governed by their respective legislations. As on 31 March 2011, the State of Karnataka had 75 working Public Sector Undertakings - PSUs (69 Companies and 6 Statutory Corporations) and 14 non-working PSUs (all Companies), which employed 1.82 lakh employees. The State PSUs registered a turnover of Rs. 41,493.51 crore for 2010-11 as per their latest finalised accounts.
This turnover was equal to 10.89 per cent of State Gross Domestic Product indicating the important role played by the PSUs in the economy. The PSUs had accumulated profit of Rs. 1,007.36 crore as per their latest finalised accounts.As on 31 March 2011, the investment (Capital and long term loans) in 89 PSUs was Rs. 58,137.26 crore. Infrastructure Sector accounted for about 54.30 per cent of total investment and Power Sector about 32.09 per cent in 2010-11. The Government contributed Rs. 8,880.72 crore towards equity, loans and grants / subsidies in 2010-11.
The working State PSUs earned a profit of Rs. 1,632.42 crore in the aggregate for 2010-11 as per their latest finalised accounts. The major contributors to profit were Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (Rs. 686.19 crore), Mysore Minerals Limited (Rs. 422.87 crore), and The Hutti Gold Mines Company Limited (Rs. 124.71 crore). Heavy losses were incurred by The Mysore Paper Mills Limited (Rs. 84.78 crore), The Mysore Sugar Company Limited (Rs. 70.21 crore) and Hubli Electricity Supply Company Limited (Rs. 64.71 crore). Audit noticed various deficiencies in the functioning of PSUs. A review of three years Audit Reports of CAG shows that the PSUs losses of Rs. 1,320.47 crore and infructuous investments of Rs. 333.27 crore were controllable with better management. Thus, there was tremendous scope to improve the functioning and enhance the profits. The PSUs can discharge their role efficiently only if they are financially self-reliant. There is a need for greater professionalism and accountability in the functioning of PSUs.