States » EastPosted at: Sep 28 2026 9:38PM


Rs 136.77 crore mineral funds spent on Odisha hockey stadium irregular: CAG

Bhubaneswar, Sep 28 (UNI) The CAG has flagged Rs 136.77 crore spent by the Sundargarh District Mineral Foundation (DMF) on a hockey stadium as irregular, saying the project was not among the activities permissible under the Pradhan Mantri Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana (PMKKKY) guidelines.
The audit also found that Rs 983.32 crore was spent on projects in 976 villages not affected by mining in Keonjhar and Sundargarh, while no project was implemented in 488 directly affected and 96 indirectly affected villages.
The findings are part of the Comptroller and Auditor General's Performance Audit Report on implementation of PMKKKY and functioning of DMFs in Odisha for 2015-16 to 2023-24, tabled in the Assembly on Monday.
The six DMFs covered by the audit collected Rs 22,568.17 crore, including interest, and sanctioned 17,435 projects worth Rs 20,947.52 crore. However, none had prepared the mandatory Perspective Plan and Master Plan.
Five DMFs had not identified people in affected areas requiring resettlement or rehabilitation, while none had created an endowment fund despite receiving Rs 20,795.51 crore in contributions and Rs 1,772.66 crore in interest.
In Keonjhar and Sundargarh, 9,739 projects worth Rs 17,926.79 crore were sanctioned. While Rs 983.32 crore was spent in non-affected villages, the audit found no project in 584 affected villages.
The CAG also found discrepancies between DMF collections recorded by mining offices and audited DMF accounts, indicating weak reconciliation and internal controls.
In Keonjhar, 757 of 3,269 projects involving Rs 9,733.37 crore were implemented without approval of the Executive Committee or Board of Trustees. Sundargarh similarly sanctioned five projects worth Rs 102.71 crore without approval.
The audit further flagged Rs 171.79 crore released from DMF funds in Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh to MGNREGS for additional wages, contrary to union government provisions.
In Sundargarh, Rs 25.01 crore of Rs 99.81 crore shown as administrative expenditure was spent on non-administrative purposes, including police patrolling vehicles, renovation of a municipality office and the Collector's residence reading room, and school functions.
Implementing agencies in Jajpur, Keonjhar and Sundargarh had also failed to return Rs 470.25 crore in unspent funds and Rs 26.51 crore in interest to the DMFs.
The report found Rs 51.71 crore spent on 126 projects in Jajpur and Keonjhar for rural parks, Van Vatikas and eco-retreat centres remained incomplete or defunct and was inadmissible as the activities were outside the permissible categories.
UNI MK BM
Tags: #Rs 136.77 crore mineral funds spent on Odisha hockey stadium irregular: CAG
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