Procurement News Notice |
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| PNN | 3596 |
| Work Detail | Over the next couple of months, India’s premiere Rajdhani Express will not be sporting its trademark red colour. Similarly, the vibrant blue of other trains will be replaced by ad-wrappings, which the ministry of railway has planned in a bid to boost revenue for the cash-strapped transporter. Tapping its vast unused advertisement potential, the Railways has decided to allow adverts to be posted on the outside of over ten thousand trains. The move is worth an estimated Rs 11,000 crore for Indian Railways. To begin with, vinyl wrapping will be done on nearly two dozen trains. Tenders for this have been invited, said officials. The minimum reserve price for buying advertisement rights on the outside of a train will vary between Rs 1.2 crore to Rs 6 crore. Initially, Indian Railways is offering selected Rajdhani trains originating in Delhi for vinyl wrapping. The Mumbai Rajdhani and August Kranti Rajdhani Express, Mumbai–Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express, Maharashtra Sampark Kranti Express, and Golden Temple Mail are some of the other trains selected by railways in the first phase. Next in line will be Shatabdi Express trains running on Northern Railways. Ad-wrapping of trains is one of the suggestions made by the Railways' engineering firm RITES, which said that Indian Railways has the potential to earn Rs 11,000 crore from advertisement. Soon after taking charge, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had asked RITES to do the first-ever professional assessment of how much money the Railways could earn from selling ad-space. The idea is that the Railways' income should not be solely dependent on freight and passenger fares. The Railways has huge potential to use its space for advertising as it runs 13,000 trains per day on 63,000 kilometres of track, and carries 23 million passengers – equivalent to the population of Australia. However, the Railways has been recording a revenue deficit of over Rs 32,000 in recent years. According to officials, Indian Railway makes just under 5 per cent of its revenue from advertisements, as compared to nearly 20 per cent ad-related revenue generated by leading railway networks around the world. There have been examples in the past where vinyl wrapping has been done on trains, but Indian Railways is now planning to take it up on a big scale. An official said the Railways plans to offer a vinyl wrapping option on all trains in future. While RITES estimated the revenue potential at Rs 11,000 crore, sources claimed the actual value could be even higher. “Vinyl wrapping will have its own advantages. It will save us the cost of painting of coaches and maintenance will be easier. If the plan is successful, railways could easily become one of the biggest medium of advertisement in India,” said an official. |
| Country | India , Southern Asia |
| Industry | Railways |
| Entry Date | 03 Sep 2016 |
| Source | http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-3758973/Indian-Railways-set-make-Rs-11-000-crore-putting-adverts-outside-trains.html |
