Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) K Sanjay Murthy on Monday said autonomous institutions should leverage tools like risk-control maturity scorecard (RCMS) to see whether financial prudence is being followed.

Addressing a workshop, organised with central and state universities for improving control and governance, Murthy said tools like RCMS for higher education institutions are not an additional audit but a self-monitoring tool.

He further said that there are around 1,400 autonomous institutions.

"The number of autonomous bodies will further grow, and the amount of investments will also continuously increase. It was therefore imperative that tools like RCMS are leveraged to identify areas requiring attention," Murthy said.

The workshop forms part of the consultative process for the roll-out of RCMS across autonomous bodies, beginning with 66 higher education institutions in the first phase of engagement with institutional leadership, aiming to build a shared understanding of the framework, its methodology and the expectations from institutions during the audit cycle.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said Chhattisgarh failed to maintain fiscal discipline in 2014-15. “The fiscal deficit was 3.81 per cent of the GSDP (gross state domestic product) during 2014-15, which was more than the three per cent estimated under the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management) Act and the Thirteenth Finance Commission,” the CAG report on the state finances for the year ended March 31, 2015, said.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India will audit the recently concluded two rounds of coal block e-auction. The audit is likely to be completed in six months.The audit would review the conditions set for the auctions and the reserve prices decided by the government for various blocks. Sources said details and files pertaining to the auction had been sought.The audit is also expected to review the decision by the government to let companies put multiple bids through subsidiaries or various units. Neither the CAG nor the coal ministry officially responded to queries on the audit.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has slammed the Gujarat government for violating norms of accounting standards by showing revenue expenditure of more than Rs 1,600 crore as capital expenditure and thus inflating the revenue surplus in 2013-14.The Bharatiay Janata Party (BJP) government in the state violated the Indian Government Accounting Standard (IGAS)-2 and tried to show more revenue surplus (Rs 4,717 crore in 2013-14), it says.

Over 94 per cent of the country's uncollected tax demand of Rs 5.75 lakh crore is difficult to recover, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said. The CAG, in an audit report on direct taxes tabled in Parliament on Friday, also hauled up the Income Tax Settlement Commission and the income-tax department for their slow functioning and inability to enforce collection and recovery of outstanding demand.

Firms in the services sector are set to face a flurry of special audit notices — from not only the service tax authorities but also the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) — after the finance ministry changed rules recently to override a few court rulings preventing such audits, especially by the CAG on private-sector service providers.

In what would be a first for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the road sector, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has commenced performance audits of 100-odd highway projects awarded during the tenure of two former ministers of road transport & highways (TR Balu and Kamal Nath) and the incumbent CP Joshi. Sources said CAG will conduct audit of the projects awarded since 2007. The auditor has sought details of identification and prioritisatisation of road projects under the PPP model awarded for the II, III, IV and V phases of the national highway development programmes. CAG is also expected to examine model concession agreements for PPP projects.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has objected to the government's move to narrow the scope of audit of Reliance Industries-operated KG-D6 block, official sources said, keeping alive the controversy over alleged malpractices by the company.Government sources familiar with the matter said CAG is not inclined to conduct a routine audit while Reliance has argued that its contract with the government allows only financial audit, not a performance audit - a stand that seems acceptable to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas.Sources close to Reliance IndustriesBSE 0.10 % said the company is willing to abide by all the requirements of its production sharing contract, but is not willing to accept a performance audit, which is not mentioned in the contract.

On the fourth day of the deadlock in Parliament, the government on Friday indicated its willingness to revisit the allocation of one coal mine, to Reliance Power’s Sasan power plant. While he debunked the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG’s) calculation of Rs 1.86 lakh crore as financial gain to private companies, Finance Minister P Chidambaram was not outright in dismissing a CAG suggestion that the allocation of the Chhatrasal coal mine to Sasan should be reviewed. At a press conference by three senior ministers of the UPA government, Chidambaram said it was “regrettable” that the CAG had not taken note of either the Attorney General’s (AG’s) opinion or the Empowered Group of Ministers’ (EGoM’s) decision in its report on the ultra mega power plant. Asked whether in the wake of the CAG’s allegation the government would seek a review of allocation of the block for Reliance Power’s Sasan ultra mega power project (UMPP), in addition to the two existing mines, Moher and Moher Amlori Extension, Chidambaram said, “There is the CAG report. There is the AG’s opinion. And, there is the EGoM’s decision. The government will consider all of that and, if necessary, bring a paper to the EGoM or the Cabinet and take a decision.”

The Union Cabinet deciding a Rs 14,000 reserve price for 5 MHz of 2G spectrum in the 1800 MHz band is a comment on what Telecom Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal had told the nation about the findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the methodology that it had adopted in arriving at the loss estimates due to 2G Spectrum scam. The Telecom Minister had claimed during his ‘zero loss’ theory that consumer affordability through low rates and a bid to maximise public welfare was the primary driving factor behind allocating 2G spectrum in 2008 at 2001 prices. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the Cabinet, in its wisdom, have rejected the proposition made by the minister linking spectrum auction/bid price to affordability.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has claimed that Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) was given Delhi airport land at a highly concessional lease rent.With an equity contribution of Rs 2,450 crore, of which the private consortium share was Rs 1,813 crore, DIAL got Delhi airport for 60 years as well as commercial land rights worth Rs 24,000 crore with the potential of earning Rs 1,63,557 crore, according to its own estimates. DIAL is a joint venture consortium in which the GMR Group holds 54 per cent, Airports Authority of India (AAI) 26 per cent, Frankfurt and Malaysian airports 10 per cent each. GMR is the lead member of the consortium, Frankfurt airport is the airport operator, Malaysia airport is the retail advisor. In January 2006, the consortium was awarded the concession to operate, manage and develop the IGI Airport following an international competitive bidding process.

India's national auditor has again cautioned the government it should not rush to validate the entire expenditure of Reliance Industries in the D6 block because part of the money was spent after 2008, the period for which accounts have not been audited.The Comptroller and Auditor General of India, or CAG, Vinod Rai, told the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament at a meeting last week that in his view money spent by Reliance in developing the field should be reimbursed from gas sales only after D6 accounts up to 2011 are audited, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.The CAG's view could potentially escalate the row between regulatory authorities and Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries, which has initiated legal action over the issue of fully recovering its investment. RIL says its contract allows full, not partial, recovery of costs. "The petroleum ministry has been told clearly that ... until the full audit is completed up to the end of 2011, it should be careful about settling the costs to the developer," said the person who declined to be identified. In other words, the auditor feels that if the next audit detects unjustified expenditure, the oil ministry may not be able to recover it from the company.

A Comptroller and Auditor-General of India report has expressed dismay over the rising share of funds disbursed by various ministries to local bodies and NGOs in 2010-11. The CAG report on the accounts of the Union government was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday."An analysis of plan expenditure revealed that 77% of the total plan expenditure was in the form of grants-in-aid payment,'' the report stated. "In five of the ten ministries and departments incurring the largest plan expenditure, over 99% was in the form of disbursement of grants-in-aid.'' These included rural development, secondary education and literacy, women and child development, drinking water supply and higher education. According to an official, the report should send alarm bells ring in the Planning Commission, which is responsible for finalising plan allocations for various ministries. Instead of making investments directly, the ministries were distributing funds through agencies, NGOs, local bodies and authorities, upon the submission of utilisation certificates, which may not meet rigours of accountability.The CAG report noted that, over the years, the proportion of direct transfer of the central plan assistance to total plan expenditure had increased steadily from 26.71% in 2007-08 to 32.24% in 2010-11. On the other hand, transfers through the state governments had diminished over the corresponding period.

The controversial Lavasa Hill City project in Pune district has attracted the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's attention. Lavasa is being developed by the HCC Group.The CAG, in its latest report, said: “The project was driven by private interest rather than public interest. The State Government gave environmental clearance to the project without referring it to the Government of India.”The report, tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, pointed out that HCC's selection as a developer by the Maharashtra Government was not transparent.It said the then State Government's policy decision of November 1996 to develop the township in the hill station areas with private participation was implemented without giving wide publicity. Expressions of interest were not invited, which resulted in Lavasa bagging the project in June 2001.The report pointed out that the policy is now more than a decade old but no other hill station has been developed with private sector participation in Maharashtra, resulting in skewed development in the State.Referring to the Special Planning Authority (SPA) status granted to Lavasa, the CAG has said it was an unprecedented move.

The world’s largest coal producer, Coal India Ltd (CIL), overstated its manpower productivity for five years between April 2006 and March 2011, according to the leaked draft report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) on the allocation of blocks and augmentation of production by the company. This assumes importance as over half of the commercial energy supply of India, Asia’s third largest economy, hinges on CIL’s productivity. The draft report notes that CIL calculates Output Per Man-shift (OMS), a measure of worker productivity, of departmental workers by including the contribution through outsourcing of production. This allowed the company to overstate productivity. “While the OMS (departmental plus outsourcing) in respect of opencast mines ranged 8-10 tonnes, the overall OMS ranged 3.48-4.73 tonnes. Thus, the methodology adopted by CIL for calculating OMS inflated the productivity of departmental personnel,” says the report. A Coal India spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, saying he was not aware of the content of the draft report and would have to consult the department concerned. CIL chairman Zohra Chatterji was also not available for comments. An email sent to CIL, requesting comments, remained unanswered.

India's first auction of coal blocks will bring out sharp differences between calculations of the government and the national auditor, whose draft report estimated that companies which were allotted blocks free of cost received a benefit of 10.67 lakh crore. The coal and power ministries are trying to work out a system to assess the price for the blocks to be auctioned, while the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) simply multiplied the estimated reserves in each block with Coal India's market price for that particular grade, government officials said. The coal ministry is in the process of appointing a consultant to evaluate the base price for 38 coal blocks that will be bid out to steel, sponge iron, cement and surface gassification units, they said.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has softened its stance on the diversion of surplus coal from the Sasan and Tilaiya mines, saying the bid documents permitted such diversion, which was also in line with the coal ministry guidelines.The CAG had triggered a controversy last October, saying the government’s decision to allow Reliance Power to divert surplus coal from these captive mines violated bid guidelines and entailed a windfall gain of R1.2 lakh crore to the private developer. It now says the gain could be only R15,849 crore.The CAG has now said although the bid document had spelt out how to use surplus coal from these captive mines, the confusion occurred because the allotment letter did not specify usage parameters upfront. “This ambiguity rendered bidders to interpret the clause for the usage of surplus coal and vitiated the process of allocation,” it added.

Comptroller & Auditor General has asked for powers to audit all limited liability partnerships (LLPs) in which the government holds a majority stake directly or indirectly. Under the current rules, LLPs that have a turnover of less than Rs 40 lakh a year or where the total contribution by partners does not exceed Rs 25 lakh, are not required to get their accounts audited. "There were reports that LLPs are increasingly being misused by corporate houses to evade regulators. We are of the view that since public money is involved in government LLPs, this route should be checked," a CAG official told ET requesting anonymity. The auditor has in a letter asked the government to make suitable amendments in the law.

Government is studying international best practices for bringing structural changes in the country's top audit authority Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) by making it a multi-member body. "Any change in the present structure of CAG would require an amendment to the Constitution and, therefore, any decision with regard to changing its structure has to be examined very carefully. "As per information furnished by the Ministry of Finance, the international best practices especially in USA, UK, Canada, etc. are being assessed regarding the structure of apex audit body in those countries," Minister of State for Personnel and Public Grievances V Narayanasamy told the Lok Sabha today in a written reply. CAG is at present a one-member body. According to the Minister, the Government has got suggestion from high-level Shunglu Committee, which examined various irregularities in the conduct of Commonwealth Games here, to make CAG a multi-member body.

State oil firms are under the scanner of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India for supplying diesel at a discount to defense establishments and Indian Railways and claim compensation on the revenue loss from upstream companies and the government. Executives in state-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum have accepted that they offer small discounts to these customers and denied recovering any part of the amount from the government or upstream companies as compensation. But spokespersons of the three firms declined comments on record. A government official said CAG has asked the government for details about the matter after the auditor detected these discounts while examining some of some defence establishments. CAG spokesman did not respond to ET's email query.