Haffkine procurements leave Rs 2,226 crore Advance Contingent bills unadjusted: CAG

The Maharashtra government routed routine procurement of medicines and medical equipment through the state-run Haffkine institute using Advance Contingent bills, leaving 559 bills worth Rs 2,226.32 crore pending for adjustment at the end of 2024-25, CAG has said.

Advance Contingent (AC) bills are a type of government bill used to draw money in advance for urgent or unforeseen expenses, when it is not practical to wait for detailed bills or vouchers.

According to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), tabled on the last day of the winter session of the state legislature on Sunday, "pending AC bills accounted for 63.03 per cent of the total AC bills, in violation of Rule 282(2) of the Maharashtra Treasury Rules, which bars withdrawal of funds unless required for immediate disbursement".

The report identified the Medical Education and Drugs Department as the biggest defaulter with Rs 2,212 crore of Detailed Contingent (DC) bills pending, followed by the Public Health Department (Rs 770 crore), Home Department (Rs 266 crore) and Planning Department (Rs 120 crore).

A Detailed Contingent (DC) bill is a government bill submitted after spending money drawn through an AC bill to account for and regularise that expenditure.

The CAG said that the government routed routine procurement of medicines and medical equipment through Mumbai-based Haffkine Bio-Pharmaceuticals Corporation Limited using AC bills, leaving 559 bills worth Rs 2,226.32 crore pending for adjustment at the end of 2024-25.

The national auditor also flagged the state's fiscal position, reporting a revenue deficit of Rs 29,995 crore and a fiscal deficit of Rs 1,24,209 crore during 2024-25, with the fiscal deficit forming 20 per cent of total expenditure. The government financed the gap largely through public debt of Rs 1,01,829 crore, a net increase in the Public Account of Rs 25,957 crore and a rise in year-end cash balance of Rs 3,577 crore, it said.

Committed expenditure absorbed nearly 32 per cent of the state's revenue receipts of Rs 4,81,906 crore, with salaries and wages at Rs 54,690 crore, interest payments at Rs 53,455 crore and pensions at Rs 44,969 crore, the report noted.

The actual revenue deficit of Rs 29,995 crore overshot the budget estimate of Rs 20,052 crore by 150 per cent, the CAG said.

On guarantees, the auditor said the government failed to meet its stipulated contribution to the Guarantee Redemption Fund (GRF). Against a required contribution of Rs 2,304.96 crore for 2024-25, the state provided Rs 430.74 crore, resulting in an understatement of revenue expenditure, it said. The total accumulation in the GRF stood at Rs 2,223.63 crore as on March 31, 2025, up from Rs 1,669.39 crore a year earlier, even as the May 6, 2024, amendment mandated building the corpus to five per cent of outstanding guarantees within five years from 2018-19.

The report further said that supplementary grants totalling Rs 29,990.55 crore during 2024-25 proved "unnecessary" in view of significant savings against original allocations. It cited supplementary demands of Rs 1,279 crore under police administration, Rs 723 crore for general education, Rs 7,358 crore for urban development and allied services, and Rs 500 crore for roads and bridges.

According to the CAG, supplementary demands were also made for Rs 5,083 crore for the welfare of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and minorities, Rs 2,993 crore for the tribal areas development sub-plan (revenue), Rs 2,813 crore for public works administrative and functional buildings (capital) and Rs 3,109 crore for irrigation (capital).

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)