₹1,024 cr left unspent, ₹94.35 cr spent without budget approval: CAG exposes financial mismanagement in Himachal

MANDI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report for 2023-24 has uncovered financial mismanagement in Himachal Pradesh, revealing that ₹1,024 crore remains unspent in government accounts while ₹94.35 crore was spent without budgetary approval.

The report, tabled in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly recently by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, raises concerns over unaccounted funds, missing utilisation certificates (UCs) and irregular expenditures across key departments.

₹1,024 crore unspent in government accounts

A major concern highlighted by the CAG is the accumulation of unspent funds in the state’s Single Nodal Agency (SNA) accounts:

As of March 31, 2024, ₹1,024 crore remained unused. The state received ₹3,824.29 crore from the central government in 2023-24.

However, ₹3,377.32 crore (central share) and ₹587.49 crore (state share) were transferred to SNA without proper documentation.

Due to missing vouchers and 1,342 pending UCs worth ₹1,744.60 crore, ₹2,795.23 crore remains unaccounted for.

₹94.35 crore spent without budgetary approval

The CAG report also flags unauthorised expenditure totaling ₹94.35 crore, incurred without any budgetary or supplementary provisions, violating Para 12.5 of the Himachal Pradesh Budget Manual.
The four major departments that overspent their budget allocations are:

Forest & Wildlife Department (Demand No. 16)
Industries, Mining, IT & Supplies (Demand No. 18)
Urban Development & Housing (Demand No. 28)
Scheduled Caste Development Programme (Demand No. 32)
Of this, ₹66.50 crore was allocated under demand numbers 16, 18, and 32 without legislative approval. Additionally, in March 2023, ₹55.52 lakh was reallocated without authorisation.

Revenue growth vs. rising expenditure

Despite fiscal mismanagement, Himachal Pradesh’s revenue receipts grew by ₹1,083.55 crore compared to 2022-23.
• Revenue receipts: ₹39,173.05 crore
• Revenue expenditure: ₹44,731.63 crore
• Capital expenditure: ₹5,629.79 crore

Marginal growth in GST collection

The state’s GST collection saw a 1.53% increase, growing by ₹80.68 crore, which includes an advance IGST allocation of ₹61.20 crore.

Himachal Pradesh received ₹2,845.13 crore as its share of central GST. The total GST revenue stood at ₹8,185.02 crore. The state also received a non-loan compensation of ₹88 crore to offset GST-related revenue losses.

The state spent ₹1,239.18 crore on disaster relief in 2023, which was significantly higher than ₹622.42 crore spent in the previous year. The central government contributed ₹1,190.85 crore towards this expenditure.

Munish Sood