Branding goes toot-toot!

Locomotive branding has become big time business, a very good revenue earner for the Indian Railways.

The Vadodara division under the Western Railway zone has awarded as many as 37 locomotives till date under NFR (Non Fare Revenue) stream. It generated revenue to the tune of Rs.73 lakh/year and another Rs.4.40 crore via a five years contract.

Even the Mumbai division is doing very well. It achieved an NFR earning of Rs,66 crore, which was tad more than the target of Rs.65.64 crore. Last fiscal, it earned Rs.46 crore.

Nagpur division had allocated the branding of five locos through an open tender to Haldiram’s. The contract for the locomotive branding has been done at a cost of Rs 52 lakh.

End of Feb, the Indian Railways allotted five additional WAP 7 locomotives to Adani Wilmar on pro-rata basis. The Railways is also talking with PSUs and MNCs to go for this kind of branding.

We might not like the look of the trains, with snacks and oils but whenever we see these colourful trains, we need to see the money it is earnings for the Railways. And nothing beats that!