New Delhi, Feb 05: Subsidies and additional equity infusions made by the government into PSUs cost the exchequer Rs 29,893 crore in ’03, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) said. “An additional investmemt of Rs 5,855 crore was made during the year towards equity of PSUs, despite the fact that the average return from investment in PSUs continued to be low at 9.9%,” the CAG said in its report tabled in Parliament today.
Besides the equity infusion, the CAG said the government also provided Rs 34,245 crore on account of subsidy to various PSUs operating under APM.
“The net burden of these PSUs on the Central budget, after taking into account the dividend received from some profit-making PSUs, was Rs 29,893 crore,” it said. Though the government’s overall investment in PSUs stood at Rs 1,03,389 crore till March ’03, the CAG observed that only 139 PSUs posted profits while 125 state-owned companies reported losses.
The top 45 profit-making PSUs contributed 86% to total profit at Rs 33,306 crore. Of the 125 loss-making PSUs, the CAG said, “98 PSUs had eroded their respective equity base (of Rs 11,925 crore) many times over owing to accumulated losses (to Rs 68,155 crore) over the years resulting in negative networth."
"Sickness has overtaken 62 PSUs and they stood referred to BIFR," it added. Bureau Report