Return on investments in Telangana bodies quite low

Saifabad: Raising questions over the State government investments to the autonomous bodies and giving guarantees, the CAG pointed out that by the end of the financial years 2019, "the State government's investment in statutory corporations, government Companies, joint stock companies and co-operatives stood at Rs 19,754 crore." But, the return on investment (RoI) from corporations and companies was low at

0.48 per cent while the average rate of interest on government borrowings was 6.93 per cent.

That apart, the loans and advances which were given by the State government as of March 31, 2019, to the autonomous bodies, corporations etc., stood at Rs 24,509 crore. "While the average rate of interest payments as a percentage of outstanding liabilities is 6.39 per cent. Thus, the interest receipts as a percentage of outstanding loans and advances was only 0.03 per cent."

It said that out of the Rs 24,509 crore loans provided, 28 per cent i.e., Rs 6,920 crore were provided to autonomous bodies without a definite stream of revenues of their own for debt servicing. In turn, such loans would not indicate the real worth of the government asses, it pointed out.

Thus, such Loans do not indicate the real worth of Government assets.

Similarly, the State government had provided guarantees to the tune of Rs 77,713 crore by the end of the 2018-19 financial year stood at 87 per cent of total Revenue Receipts of the preceding year pegged at Rs 88,824 crore. And, it was within the ceiling of 90 per cent.

However, the CAG pointed out that the State government has been extending guarantees to the bodies which had not finalised their accounts.

Against this backdrop, it said that 65 per cent of the loans guaranteed went to two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) ie., Telangana Drinking Water Supply Corporation (TDWSC) for implementation of a flagship project: Mission Bhagiratha. The second one was the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited (KIPCL) for the implementation of the Kaleshwaram Project.

It said that the guarantee commission of Rs 388.56 crore was to be received by the government to the end of March 2019 from 26 institutions to which guarantees of Rs 77,713 crore were provided.

However, the guarantee commission of Rs 340 crore was received from only one institution viz., Telangana State Water Resources Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (TSWRIDCL). It was much higher than the Guarantee Commission actually receivablefrom TSWRIDCL on the outstanding guarantees of Rs 4,141 crore, it pointed out.