New Delhi, July 29 -- India's national auditor has flagged serious lapses in inventory management at state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL), causing production losses and excess procurement, and blocked capital worth Rs.12,743 crore.

In a performance audit report tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said, "SAIL's inability to maintain stock norms and streamline procurement and sales processes caused inefficiencies across its plants during 2016-17 to 2022-23."

The report, titled 'Inventory Management in SAIL', noted that SAIL did not fix any benchmark for inventory carrying cost per tonne despite holding an average inventory worth Rs.21,698 crore, which accounted for about 67% of its current a...