The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report presented in the Gujarat Assembly on Wednesday highlighted serious lapses in the state government’s financial management for 2023–24, flagging weak budget control, accounting flaws, and poor utilisation of funds.
Spending more than income
Gujarat’s revenue rose by 11.71% to 2,22,763 crore, but its total expenditure was higher at 2,47,632 crore. The state failed to meet mandatory revenue surplus targets under the Gujarat Fiscal Responsibility Act. A projected surplus of 7,479.64 crore in 2020–21 turned into an actual deficit of 7,483.28 crore.
The government also underfunded the Consolidated Sinking Fund, meant for loan repayments, and failed to use labour cess collected for workers’ welfare effectively.
Poor budget planning and weak regulation
The CAG noted that supplementary provisions of 2,414.11 crore across seven grants were unnecessary, while 11,344.01 crore was shifted between heads without real justification. Out of 151 grants, half remained unused, leaving 45,154.58 crore (13.51% of the budget) unspent. Another 193.67 crore was spent without Assembly approval.
Accounting flaws
Funds worth 21,845.38 crore from the Centre were routed directly to implementing agencies, bypassing the state budget. Grants of 11,869.17 crore across 24 accounts and 1,951.56 crore in Personal Ledger Accounts remained unutilised.
Capital returns were poor—while Gujarat paid 6.75% interest on loans, its investments yielded only 0.56%. Several loss-making companies received fresh investments, and 833.30 crore remained idle in dormant loan accounts.
Rising deficit during Covid
During the pandemic, Gujarat’s fiscal deficit worsened—from 19.51% in 2019–20 to 21.57% in 2020–21—raising the debt burden. The government also failed to pay 264.12 crore in interest on certain deposits.
Misclassification of expenditure
The audit found cases where expenditure exceeded sanctioned limits. Capital expenses were wrongly booked as revenue expenses, and even land acquisition costs were misclassified to exhaust funds.
Welfare and project delays
The CAG flagged poor performance in women and child development schemes. Of the 2,350 Anganwadis announced, only 210 were built. A 21 crore grant with Gujarat Women Economic Development Corporation remained idle.
Meanwhile, 16,402.67 crore was stuck in 204 incomplete capital projects. The report also cited delays in accounts of autonomous bodies, 183 cases of fund misappropriation, and 176.87 crore worth of unresolved irregularities.