West Bengal: In the red with a Rs 40,000-cr black hole

There’s this shocking CAG account of a state that mismanages its finances, breaches limits for borrowing and provides loan guarantees t...

There’s this shocking CAG account of a state that mismanages its finances, breaches limits for borrowing and provides loan guarantees to its units before gobbling the money they borrow. It’s a state whose units regularly get their accounts wrong or simply forget to furnish them. It’s also a state ruled by one party for over 20 years.

The Revival Package

• Rs 40,000 cr: The money pumped into West Bengal units by successive Central governments over the last 10 years

The Real Story

• 50: No. of government companies in West Bengal — out of 65 — where accounts haven’t been updated for upto 15 years. Of these, at least 10 haven’t prepared their accounts since inception

• 25: No. of state undertakings — out of the 40 checked — which had understated their losses. Eight had overstated profits

• Rs 704 cr: Accumulated loss till 1999 of 18 units that continue to remain sick though the state’s been trying to revive them since setting up an Industrial Reconstruction Department in 1973

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