NOIDA, Aug. 21 -- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its performance audit of the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) titled "Internal control in Chapter VI of audit report", has flagged "weak internal controls." The report led to irregular land allotments, rampant encroachments on government land, diversion of funds beyond its legal mandate, and a systemic failure to maintain transparency and accountability. The audit said the authority had strayed from its founding mandate of promoting industrial development, functioning instead like a housing authority. "The authority shifted its focus from industrial development to residential projects. Even the much-hyped Sports City project was diluted into a housing scheme," the report observed. GNIDA acknowledged the findings and said it would act on the CAG's recommendations. "We will take preventive measures in view of the suggestions flagged by the CAG to avoid errors in the future," said Vinod Kumar, general manager of finance. Allotment anomalies were central to the audit. The CAG found the land-allotment process "irregular and lacking transparency." Industrial, institutional, IT and housing plots were frequently allotted after interviews and presentations without fixed eligibility criteria such as minimum net worth, turnover or liquidity. "This gave the Allotment Committee unchecked powers, leading to arbitrary decisions," the audit noted, adding many allottees later sold plots for profit. In a sample of 170 allotments, 51 plots - nearly 30% - were allotted despite applicants failing to furnish mandatory documents such as registration certificates, financial statements, liquidity certificates and past project records. Oversight by the authority's Board was poor: "Out of 46 allotment schemes reviewed, only one had prior Board approval," the CAG said, while many were cleared later ex post facto and nine had no approval at all. The audit quantified revenue impacts. Chapter V (sub-chapter V(2) on builders and group-housing allotments) recorded that additional purchasable Floor Area Ratio (FAR) worth Rs.815.20 crore was allowed to 113 builders between January 2014 and March 2021 without execution of supplementary deeds, causing a stamp-duty loss of Rs.40.76 crore to the state exchequer. The Sports City chapter (V(4)) documented undue benefits of Rs.470.12 crore from fungible FAR and ground-coverage concessions that permitted more residential development than notified norms. Regulatory non-compliance widened revenue erosion. Scheme brochures offered FAR and ground coverage higher than notified Building Regulations; GNIDA's reliance on older rules was rejected by the CAG. Between 2007-08 and 2017-18, the authority diverted nearly Rs.1,180 crore to projects beyond its legal mandate - expenditures the CAG said "should have been borne by state departments with legislative sanction." The audit ruled the Board lacked legal authority to divert funds. The report also highlighted the absence of an internal audit: "Without this critical oversight mechanism, periodic inspections of records were not carried out," enabling violations to persist; GNIDA engaged a chartered accountant firm only in September 2020. CAG recommended fixing responsibility, enforcing escrow accounts and penalties, strengthening brochure approvals and instituting a better internal audit regime....