Indian Railways earns big revenue from locomotive branding! The Vadodara division under the Western Railway zone has awarded as many as 37 locomotives till date under NFR (Non Fare Revenue) stream, generating a revenue of Rs 73.26 lakh per annum and an amount of Rs 4.4 crore in a five years contract. Besides, this has also resulted in savings of Rs 7.40 lakh per annum and Rs 14.8 lakh in five years. According to the national transporter, the locomotives awarded under loco branding is the highest in Indian Railways. Recently, on 27 February 2020, a total of five additional WAP 7 locomotives were allotted to Adani Wilmar on pro-rata basis. Currently, discussions are underway with PSUs as well as large MNCs to expand the concept further.
Recently, it has been reported that the Commercial Department of Mumbai Division has achieved an NFR earning of Rs 65.83 crore, which is the highest ever in Mumbai Division. According to Central Railways, this year’s target was Rs 65.64 crore and last year’s total earning was Rs 46 crore.
Earlier this year, the Nagpur division under the Central Railway zone had completed the physical branding of five of its locomotives in just 33 days. The locomotive branding is a part of the NFR scheme formulated by Piyush Goyal-chaired Railway Ministry. A spokesperson of Central Railway zone told Financial Express Online that the Nagpur division had allocated the branding of five locos through an open tender to Haldiram’s, which is a popular manufacturer of Indian sweets and snacks. The contract for the locomotive branding has been done at a cost of Rs 52 lakh.
The locomotives now display the illustrations of Haldiram’s popular sweets and snacks such as rasgulla, gulab jamun, bhujia, etc. The Central Railways’ headquarters approved the design of the physical branding of locomotives. The completion of locomotives’ branding in a time-bound manner has led to an NFR milestone for the Railway Ministry. The New, Innovative Non Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme (NINFRIS) has been initiated by the Railway Board to promote new ideas as well as concepts related to the convenience of passengers and enhancing NFR policy of the network.
