NEW DELHI, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- India's national auditor -- Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in its report tabled in the country's parliament revealed that the railway's operating ratio at 98.44 percent in 2017-18 was the worst in the last 10 years, officials said Tuesday.
According to CAG, the operating ratio -- a measure of expenditure against revenue -- shows how efficiently the railway is operating and how healthy its finances are.
"An operating ratio of 98.44 percent here means that Indian railways spent 98.44 U.S. dollars to earn 100," an official quoting the report said.
The auditor said railways would have ended up with a negative balance instead of surplus without an advance received from two state-owned companies, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON).
According to CAG, Indian railways was unable to meet its operational cost of passenger services and other coaching services.
"Almost 95 percent of the profit from freight traffic was utilized to compensate the loss on operation of passenger and other coaching services. One of a contributing factor in this regard has been free and concessional fare tickets, passes and Privilege Ticket Orders (PTOs) to various beneficiaries," the auditor said.
The Indian government in 2015 announced an investment of over 137 billion U.S. dollars over a period of five years to boost railways and modernize them on new lines.
India's sprawling railways are the world's third-largest network, ferrying around 23 million people each day.
