Indian Railways earns over Rs 1,500 crore as non-fare revenue through e-auction | So Good News

Indian Railways has earned more than Rs 1,500 crore as non-fare revenue on e-auctions of commercial assets such as parcel space, catering stalls and parking lots among others.

Discarding the manual system, the railways has now shifted to the online bidding system for the sale of slot machines for various commercial activities such as advertising, maintenance of washrooms through pay and usage, establishment of massage parlors and pod hotels at stations.

There are around 2,000 suppliers so far who have registered for the e-auction since the launch of the system a month ago. One has to deposit Rs 1,925 as one time registration fee to participate in the e-auction.

According to the railway, the online system has received a good response as the entire exercise is carried out in a transparent manner. No one needs to come to the railway office to get the assets or to deposit the necessary fee. Till now 2500 plots have been sold online worth Rs 1568.27 crore.

Kharagpur Division, Mumbai CST Division, BCT Division have shown the best results in selling the assets through e-auction.

The railways have identified around 20,000 assets to be e-auctioned across the country, giving the vendors the choice to participate in the bidding without interference from anywhere.

As for Northern Railway, it has sold assets worth Rs 205.03 crore through e-auction.

General Manager of Northern Railway, Ashutosh Ganagal, said that all the divisions have performed exceptionally well in asset creation and timely allocation of lots by encouraging the bidders to participate in e-auctions.

While Ambala Division has earned Rs 31.47 crore, Delhi Division Rs 115.70 crore, Ferozpur Division Rs 29.08 crore, Lucknow Division Rs 11.51 crore, Moradabad Division Rs 17.26 crore.

In addition to increasing passenger and freight income, a concrete action plan has been drawn up to increase non-tax income for the railways.