Maharashtra departments default on utilisation certificates, rushed spending in March: CAG

Nagpur, Dec 15 (PTI) Several departments of the Maharashtra government have failed to submit utilisation certificates (UCs) for grants-in-aid of thousands of crores, even as they rushed to incur a bulk of their expenditure in the closing month of 2024-25, says CAG.

The Housing Department figured prominently on both counts.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled on the last day of the state legislature's winter session on Sunday stated that non-submission of UCs under the Bombay Financial Rules, 1959, carries the risk that amounts reflected in the Finance Accounts may not have reached the intended beneficiaries.

As on March 31, 2025, UCs of Rs 1,77,319.84 crore related to 52,876 cases were outstanding. During 2024-25, the government cleared UCs amounting to Rs 1,37,222.25 crore in about 40,047 cases, the report said.

Among the major defaulters, the Urban Development Department led with pending UCs of Rs 11,040 crore, followed by the Planning Department (Rs 5,805 crore), Water Resources Department (Rs 3,602 crore), Housing Development Department (Rs 2,839 crore) and Social Justice and Special Assistance Department (Rs 2,640 crore).

The audit also flagged a rush of expenditure in March 2025, in contravention of the Bombay Financial Rules, which advise against bunching of spending at the end of the financial year. It said 18 departments incurred expenditure exceeding Rs 100 crore in March alone, accounting for more than 25 per cent of their total annual spending.

The Housing Department recorded the sharpest year-end surge, with 90 per cent of its total expenditure incurred in March, followed by the Environment and Climate Change Department (77 per cent), Planning Department (65 per cent), Minorities Development Department (53 per cent) and Tourism and Cultural Affairs Department (50 per cent), the CAG said. PTI ND NSK GK