Indian Railways Set To Earn Rs. 15,000 Crore In Non-Fare Revenue

The Indian Railways has put into place a policy for non-fare revenue under a Non Fare Revenue (NFR) Directorate. The NFR will try and increase the revenue from non-fare sources by 10 to 20 per cent. The Railways expects to earn a minimum of Rs. 15,000 crore from NFR sources.

The government has broadly listed out the following as potential sources of revenue:

· Advertisements at stations, hoardings alongside tracks, wagons, coaches, locomotives, station structures like Foot-over-bridges, Rail-over-bridges.

· Commercial exploitation of land including station redevelopment.

· Monetisation of soft assets such as the website to generate revenue.

· Commercial farming around tracks.

· Branding of Stations

· Pay and Use Toilets in non-station areas such as Level Crossings and approach areas.

The new policy gives the railways flexibility to explore newer avenues for revenue generation. Advertisements are being considered in areas that have been untouched prior to this. Along with this, advertisements are being considered for both digital and traditional formats in all locations.

A train branding policy is also being launched where the exterior of the train will be covered with vinyl wrapping for advertisements. It is expected to add Rs. 2,000 crore more to the revenue stream. On-demand content and rail radio will be utilised to provide entertainment services to passengers in both paid and unpaid formats. This alone is expected to raise Rs. 6000 crore.

See Also

Modi-Prabhu Duo’s Plan To Revamp India’s Dilapidated Railway Stations Takes Shape