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New Delhi, Railway’s total earnings and expenditure from its operations when compared with its cross subsidising records showed that it understated its expenditure in the financial year 2022-23 by more then 5,000 crore, the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, recently tabled in the Parliament, has revealed.
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The CAG found that while the Railways, after working out its earnings and expenditures, presented a net profit of ₹2,517.38 crore, when the loss in passenger services was compensated with the profit from freight services, it showed a net loss of ₹5,257.07 crore.
The audit showed that Railways’ total working expenditure stood at ₹2,37,659.58 crore whereas its earnings from passenger, coaching, freight and other services were ₹2,40,176.96 crore generating a surplus of ₹2,517.38 crore.
On the other hand, fiscal records related to cross subsidisation of passenger and other coaching services reflected that total expenditure in operation of all types of trains was ₹2,45,393.71 crore and total revenue receipt from all trains and sundry services was ₹2,40,136.64 crore, incurring a loss of ₹5,257 crore.
“From the above, it may be observed that the total working expenditure in the summary of fiscal transactions has been understated,” the CAG said.
It added, “The understated expenditure will not reflect true Operating Ratio . Taking into account the understated expenditure the OR would be 101.33.”
The audit found that when taking into account the net profit of ₹2,517.38 crore, the Railways OR was 98.10 per cent.
“A higher ratio indicates a poorer ability to generate surplus. Against the target of 96.98 per cent in the Budget Estimates, the OR of Railways was 98.10 per cent in 2022-23. This meant that Railways spent ₹ 98.10 to earn ₹ 100.00,” the report said.
According to the summary of cross subsidisation, Railways generated ₹74,289.66 crore from all passenger operation services and ₹1,65,846.98 crore from freight operations, making ₹2,40,136.64 crore as total revenue receipts in 2022-23.
In so far as its expenses were concerned, its expenditure on goods services stood at ₹1,11,062.87 crore and passenger services at ₹1,34,330.84 crore making a total of ₹2,45,393.71 crore.
The financial record further suggested that the Railway made a loss of ₹60,041.18 crore from passenger services while it registered a profit of ₹54,784 crore in goods services.
“The loss of ₹ 5,257.07 crore in passenger operations was left uncovered during 2022-23. The profit from freight traffic was utilised to cross-subsidise the loss on operation of passenger and other coaching services,” the audit said.
The report also recorded the biggest operational loss from the Sleeper Class, Ordinary Class, and Second Class which stood at ₹17,819.21 crore, ₹17,076.90 crore and ₹16,357.02 crore.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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