CAG flags inventory handling lapses at SAIL
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The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged discrepancies in inventory handling practices of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) from 2016 to 2023.According to the auditor's report tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, this led to loss of time and money at the public sector undertaking during this period.The CAG found that faulty price fixation adopted by SAIL in the agreement for sale of blast furnace slag, a by-product of steel-making process, was detrimental to the financial interest of the company.Sale of slag at a lower rate resulted in inability to earn revenue of ₹441.40 crore between 2016 and 2023. 'Market price of slag was between ₹500 and ₹1,220 per tonne during 2009-14, whereas the rate provided in the agreement was between ₹336.65 and ₹444.24 per tonne,' the CAG said in a statement. The slag was provided by Bokaro Steel Plant during this period.Highlighting another anomaly, CAG said SAIL had not fixed any benchmark for inventory carrying cost per tonne of raw material, semi-finished material and finished goods. This is even though on an average, SAIL had an inventory of ₹21,698 crore from 2016-17 to 2022-23, which constitutes about 67 per cent of its current assets.SAIL also failed to maintain stock levels of raw materials like iron ore, coke and sinter due to which blast furnace was put under off-blast state, resulting in inability to produce 932,000 tonnes of hot metal and earn potential revenue of ₹1,231.52 crore at Rourkela, Bokaro and Durgapur plants, the auditor noted.According to CAG, while all five integrated steel plants of SAIL have implemented SAP-ERP system, it was yet to be implemented in all units or offices of SAIL.
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