Nitish Faces CAG Heat in ₹70,877 Crore Unaccounted Funds
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The accompanying commentary of the CAG in the report struck a harsh tone, castigating Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar.
By AMIT KUMAR
PATNA, July 28, 2025 — With three months to go for the Bihar Assembly elections, incumbent Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is now finding mired in a raging controversy around expose of ₹79,877 crores. Political corridors in Patna are buzzing with the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India report flagging missing utilisation certificates (UCs) for projects worth ₹70,877.61 crore as of March 31, 2024.
The CAG in its report stated that the Bihar government failed to submit utilisation certificates (UCs) for projects worth ₹70,877.61 crore as of March 31, 2024. The CAG’s State Finances Audit Report for 2023-24 was tabled in the Bihar Assembly on July 24, 2025.
The Chief Minister is now seen in troubled waters as the Opposition has pounced on the report. The Opposition is spotlighting the issue of corruption in Bihar. Political observers claim that the CAG expose is gaining popular attention on the lines of the fodder scam that had mired Lalu Prasad-Yadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) regime in the state in 1990s.
The CAG report revealed that 49,649 UCs are yet to be submitted by the state government. The UCs are mandatory for the state government to release funds. Now the Bihar government is in a spot. Why were funds released without the UCs and their verifications?
“This high pendency of UCs is fraught with the risk of embezzlement, misappropriation, and diversion of funds,” said the CAG report in a damning indictment of the state administration.
The CAG detailed: ₹14,452.38 crore for 2016-17, ₹16,014.34 crore for 2021-22; and ₹12,813.34 crore 2022-23 are not yet accounted for with UCs.
Departments under the scanner are Panchayati Raj (₹28,154.10 crore), Education (₹12,623.67 crore), Urban Development (₹11,065.50 crore), Rural Development (₹7,800.48 crore), and Agriculture (₹2,107.63 crore).
Besides, the CAG also exposed the alleged recklessness in the financial disbursements for the urban and the rural local bodies. The Opposition leaders claim that the CAG report has endorsed allegations of massive corruption in Bihar in recent years. Incidentally, Bihar administration failed to explain release of funds to the tune of ₹ 4,277.22 crore for Urban Local Bodies and ₹2,221.83 crore to Rural Local Bodies.
The accompanying commentary of the CAG in the report struck a harsh tone, castigating Nitish Kumar-led government in Bihar. Political observers in Patna said that the CAG report along with the deteriorating law and order situations will give leg up to the Opposition in the Assembly elections.
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