Parliamentary panel suggests railways to increase non-fare revenues

New Delhi: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways has recommended that the national transporter to increase its “non-fare revenues” - coming in from segments like advertising, commercial leasing of land, and so on.

"Indian Railways had non-fare revenue of Rs. 537.34 crores during 2023-24. There is an urgent need to focus on improving non-fare revenue to supplement Capex through internal resources," panel headed by BJP Lok Sabha member C M Ramesh said in its report.

"The Railways should seek assistance from external agencies, if necessary, to enhance revenue by fully utilising the extensive advertising space and substantial land holdings at their disposal," the panel report tabled in Parliament said.

The Committee also urged the Railways to further augment their Internal Resources by vigorously promoting development/leasing of commercial complexes in and around Railway Stations to tap the high footfall of travellers. Further, Railways ought to explore additional innovative methods for increasing revenue by gaining insights into advanced railway systems globally.

The Committee observed that the Internal Resource component of the Indian

Railways' capital expenditure is quite limited. Internal resource component of Capex was Rs. 3,401 crores during 2022-23 and Rs 2,943 crores during 2023-24. The Budget estimate for the Internal Resource component for 2024-25 has been kept at Rs 3,000 crore.

The Committee noted that there is scope to increase Internal Resource through non-fare revenue. As per vision 2030 document of Indian Railways, it aims to increase the non fare revenue from 3.4% to 20% of total revenue in line with advanced railways systems around the world. Indian Railways had non-fare revenue of Rs. 537.34 crores during 2023-24,the report said