Losses of Himachal's 30 PSEs rose from Rs 3,953 cr to Rs 4,778 cr: CAG

The accumulated losses of state public sector enterprises (PSEs) rose from Rs 3,953.70 crore in 2020-21 to Rs 4,778.70 crore in 2022-23, while the profit earned by 13 SPSEs stood at Rs 20.21 crore as on September 30, 2023, according to a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on finances tabled in the Assembly on Saturday.

The net worth of nine out of these 14 PSEs has been completely eroded by losses and their worth was (-) Rs 1,932 crore against an equity investment of Rs 2,085.59 crore, while three PSEs have outstanding government loans amounting Rs 3,132 crore, the report said.

Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board topped the list of loss making enterprises with accumulated losses of Rs 1,809.61 crore, followed by Himachal Pradesh Road Corporation at Rs 1707.12 crore, HP Power Corporation at Rs 552 crore, Himachal Pradesh Power Transmission Corporation at Rs 395.91 crore, HP Financial Corporation at Rs 180.97 crore, State Forest Corporation at Rs 113.04 crore, HPMC at Rs 83.87 crore, Agro Industrial Packaging India at Rs 78.23 crore, and HP Tourism Development Corporation at Rs 27.27 crore, it said.

Out of the 13 PSEs which were not in the red and earned a profit of Rs 20.21 crore, four did not earn enough to declare dividend while the remaining which earned an aggregate profit of Rs 14.88 crore did not declare dividend.

The report also pointed out that the PSEs did not adhere to the prescribed timelines for submission of financial statements, while 73 accounts of 27 PSEs were in arrears.