CAG’s Bihar report for 2023 flags revenue arrears to government

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report for the period ended March 31, 2023, presented in the Bihar Legislature on Thursday (February 26, 2026), detailed arrears of revenue to the government amounting to ₹4,884.86 crore as of that date, of which ₹1,430.32 crore had been outstanding for more than five years. The report also mentioned that there was “mismatch” of tax liability of TDS/TCS of ₹64.91 crore in 12 cases of eight taxpayers in seven circles.

“Total receipts of the Government of Bihar for the year 2022-2023 amounted to ₹1,72,688.02 crore of which revenue raised by the state government from its own resources was ₹48,152.63 crore. The share of receipts from the government of India amounted to ₹1,24,535.39 crore (72.12% of the total receipts)”, said the C&AG report laid in the House on Thursday (February 26) which also added further that, “arrears of revenues as on March 31’ 2023 in respect of the principle heads of revenue amounted to ₹4,884.86 crore of which ₹1,430.32 crore was outstanding for more than five years”.

The C&AG report has categorized the arrears across various departments. The audit report noted that the Mines and Geology Department has failed to provide details on these dues for more than five years.

The report also underlined that there was “mismatch of tax liability of TDS/TCS (Tax Deducted at Source and Tax Collected at Source) of ₹64.91 crore in 12 cases of eight taxpayers in seven circles”. Besides, said the report, “non-compliance to the departmental instructions for realization of road, education, health and agriculture cesses by the concerned DLAOs (District Land Acquisition Offices) resulted in in a shortfall of ₹1.15 crore in cess collection”.

Similarly, the Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam Limited, the C&AG report said, “incurred an infructuous expenditure of ₹5.35 crore on construction of an incomplete bridge due to overlooking the mandatory compliance requirements of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958 during project planning.

“Underassessment/short levy/loss of revenue aggregating to ₹4,719.19 crore was in 1,764 cases. The departments concerned accepted underassessment and other deficiencies of ₹23.09 crore in 263 cases, pointed out during previous years and reported recovery of ₹1.57 crore in 82 cases”, the report said adding, “twenty registering authorities could not detect undervaluation of land in 42 instruments which resulted in undervaluation of property/instrument and consequently short levy of Stamp Duty and Registration Fee for ₹4.45 crore”.

“Out of 37 working State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs) 13 incurred losses, as per their latest finalized accounts during 2022-2023. As on 2023 March, there were 14 SPSEs which accumulated losses of ₹27,307.96 crore. The net worth of 10 out of these 14 SPSEs was completely eroded by accumulated losses and their net worth was negative as per the latest finalized accounts as on 31 March 2023,” said the report which also mentioned that “due to its lackadaisical approach, Bihar State Educational Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited could not properly monitor renewal and verify the genuineness of Bank Guarantees submitted resulting into undue favor to contactors amounting to ₹94.25 lakh”.

Further, the report added, “implementation of Mukhyamantri Kshetra Vikas Yojana (MKVY) in all the 13 test-checked divisions of Local Area Engineering Organization (LAEO), 28 to 59% of the total available funds were not utilized resulting in unspent balances lying in their respective Personal Ledger accounts”. “The Bihar Local Area Development Agency (BLAFDA) did not prepare any model designs and estimates although required for execution of works under MKVY”, it said.

Similarly, the report further said that “there was significantly less expenditure on Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities which affected awareness activities amongst beneficiaries and led to low level of verification of targeted beneficiaries”.