The Indian Railways' operating ratio in 2017-18 was at 98.44 per cent, the worst in the last 10 years, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India said in a report tabled in Parliament on Monday.

A measure of expenditure against revenue, the ratio shows how efficiently the railway is operating and how healthy its finances are.



An operating ratio of 98.44 per cent means that the railways spent Rs 98.44 to earn Rs 100.

The national auditor said the railways would have ended up with a negative balance of Rs 5,676.29 crore instead of a surplus of Rs 1,665.61 crore but for the advance received from NTPC and IRCON.