Billions in public funds were wasted due to administrative delays, under-utilization of equipment, and unrecovered dues.
A scathing compliance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has exposed a series of financial irregularities, systemic mismanagement, and project failures across several high-profile scientific and environmental departments.
The report, released on December 18, red-flags billions in wasted public funds and years of administrative delays that have hampered critical scientific missions.
Atomic Energy and Space: Financial Drifts and Under-utilisation
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) faces heavy criticism for its handling of the Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology (BRIT). The audit revealed that BRIT failed to recover ₹152.47 crore in outstanding dues from customers as of September 2024.
Furthermore, the board incurred a massive ₹62.04 crore liability in service tax, excise duty, and penalties due to statutory non-compliance. At the Heavy Water Board (HWB), an IT audit discovered that critical modules for plant maintenance remained unutilized two years after the system went “live,” forcing a continued reliance on manual processes.
The Department of Space (DoS) was also red-flagged for avoidable payments of ₹1.06 crore on electricity charges and the under-utilisation of two communication satellites, representing a significant gap in operational efficiency.
Biotechnology: National Mission Stalled by Capacity Gaps
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its implementation agency, BIRAC, were called out for the mismanagement of the National Biopharma Mission (NBM). Despite its global ambitions, the mission’s Program Management Unit suffered from a continuous shortage of staff, operating with only 12 personnel against a sanctioned strength of 51. This lack of capacity led to delays in project selection and limited competition.
The audit also found that BIRAC ignored several high-level recommendations from the Steering Committee, including the development of a five-year roadmap and impact measurement metrics.
Environmental and Earth Sciences: 16-year delays and lost recoveries
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) saw the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) red-flagged for extreme delays in its core mandate.
The audit found that surveys and research findings were delayed by 1 to 16 years. Alarmingly, due to recruitment failures, 77% of animal samples collected over the last five years remain unidentified, and the agency still lacks a formal survey manual seven years after promising to create one.
Similarly, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) was flagged for financial negligence. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) failed to recover ₹7.28 crore in meteorological charges from private airport operators. Meanwhile, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) incurred a ₹1.58 crore penalty for occupying buildings without the necessary construction permissions or occupancy certificates.
Science and Technology: Idle equipment and wasteful spending
The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) labs were identified in several cases of unproductive expenditure:
• CSIR-CMERI (Durgapur): Purchased an autonomous underwater vehicle prototype for ₹0.78 crore that has remained completely unutilized since its delivery in 2017.
• CSIR-NPL (National Physical Laboratory): Failed to install a mandatory rainwater harvesting system, resulting in the loss of water charge discounts worth ₹1.14 crore.
• Bose Institute (under DST): A cleanroom facility costing ₹0.66 crore was left unused for over five years because complementary equipment was never properly planned for or procured.
The CAG report concludes that these lapses stem from a lack of effective monitoring and internal controls, urging these departments to prioritise accountability to ensure that India’s scientific investments yield their intended public benefits.
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