The working public sector units in Meghalaya incurred an overall loss of Rs 410.17 crore as on September 2018 as compared to the aggregate loss of Rs 266.27 crore incurred during the same period in 2017.
This was revealed in the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report for the year ended March 31, 2018 and released recently.
There are 14 working public sector units, one non-working public sector unit and two statutory corporations in the state.
The report said while none of these companies was listed on the stock exchange in 2017-18, no new public sector unit was incorporated and no existing unit was closed down.
The working units registered an aggregate turnover of Rs 1,136.88 crore as per their latest finalised accounts on September 2018. A significant portion of this turnover, around 90 per cent (Rs 1,025.14 crore) was contributed by four power sector companies.
However, the report pointed out, the increase in the losses in 2017-18 was mainly because of an increase of Rs 134.80 crore in the net losses of power sector companies during the fiscal — from Rs 234.92 crore (2016-17) to Rs 369.72 crore (2017-18).
The report noted that the investment (capital and long-term loans) in 17 public sector units as on March 31, 2018 was Rs 6,631.76 crore. The total investment comprised 69.10 per cent towards capital and 30.90 per cent in long-term loans. The investment grew by 29.08 per cent from Rs 5,137.54 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 6,631.76 crore in 2017-18.
There was a significant increase of Rs 1,836.13 crore in investment in the public sector units during the last two years because of increase in investment in power sector companies during 2016-17 (equity: Rs 162.74 crore, loans: Rs 1,501.85 crore) and 2017-18 (equity: Rs 230.87 crore).
The report said the leap in investment in the power sector was mainly on account of borrowings availed by two power sector companies for construction of three hydro power projects (Rs 1,368.35 crore) and implementation of two central government sch-emes (Rs 148.42 crore) namely, Restructured Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme (RAP-DRP) and Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna (RGGVY).
But there was no significant variation in investment in the other sectors during the last five years.
The report further noted that as of March 31, 2018, there was one non-working public sector unit, Meghalaya Electronics Development Corporation Limited, involving an investment of Rs 4.72 crore that had been lying defunct since 2006.
This is critical as investments in non-working public sector unit do not contribute to the economic growth of the state, the report stated.
