The CAG flagged ₹54,282 crore in unaccounted Central expenditure, with pending receipts stretching back to 1985 — meaning the government has been unable to confirm where some money went for longer than most of its junior officers have been alive.
India's Comptroller and Auditor General tabled its annual report in April 2026 revealing that 33,973 utilisation certificates worth ₹54,282 crore remain pending across 15 ministries — meaning the funds were spent, but nobody formally confirmed what they were spent on. The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs leads the list with ₹18,272 crore in unverified expenditure, followed by Higher Education at ₹14,359 crore. The oldest outstanding receipt dates to 1985-86, predating the internet, mobile phones, and several serving ministers' entire political careers. A further ₹12,754 crore was found booked under the wrong heads — which in accounting terms means 'we know it was spent, we just cannot agree on where.' The government responded with what the National Herald described as pin-drop silence.