As of the end of March 2023, the total investment in 28 Chhattisgarh state PSUs consisted of 33.79% equity capital and 66.21% long-term loans, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India's (CAG) audit report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, presented in the state assembly. There were seven PSUs that incurred losses based on their latest finalised accounts at the end of March 2023. The losses of these PSUs increased to ₹1,143.10 crore from ₹433.14 crore in 2020-21.
The Chhattisgarh government invested ₹7,447.77 crore in 10 statutory corporations, 28 government companies, 21 joint stock companies, two rural banks, and 1,460 co-operative institutions in the state as of March 31, 2023. In 2022-23, the investment yielded a meagre return of ₹6.20 crore, or 0.08%, while the government had to pay an average interest rate of 6.91% on its borrowings during the same period.
“The investment of the state government in equity and long-term loans in 28 PSUs was ₹7,579.09 crore at the end of 31 March 2023. The outstanding long-term loans of these PSUs increased from ₹13,865.19 crore to ₹13,877.90 crore during the year of 2020-21 to 2022-23,” CAG states.
During 2022-23, the state government made principal repayment of ₹9,370.39 crore against internal debt and ₹230.33 crore against loans and advances from the central government. Further, the state government will have to make principal repayment of ₹68,308.63 crore against internal debt and ₹2,369.71 crore against loans and advances from the central government from 2023-24 to 2032-33.
The CAG noted that for the fiscal year 2022-23, the long-term loans in 28 state PSUs included ₹977.03 crore provided by the central and state governments and ₹12,900.87 crore from other sources.
The equity (paid-up capital plus defaulted loans) of seven loss-making PSUs amounted to ₹2,972.81 crore, while their total net accumulated losses reached ₹10,034.72 crore, reducing the PSUs' net worth to a negative ₹7,061.91 crore by March 31, 2023. Furthermore, the report noted the net worth of five out of 28 PSUs had been entirely eroded by accumulated losses, resulting in negative net worth.
Despite this, 10 out of 20 PSUs managed to earn a profit of ₹879.22 crore in 2022-23, compared to nine PSUs that made a profit of ₹540.16 crore in 2020-21. “Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Company Limited (₹570.38 crore), Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Company Limited (₹109.89 crore) and Chhattisgarh State Warehousing Corporation (₹71.20 crore) contributed the major portion of the profit. Out of the total loss of ₹1,143.10 crore incurred by seven PSUs, major loss was incurred by Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution company Limited (₹1,132.72 crore),” CAG adds.