City-based Haldiram bags contract for advertisements on locomotives
| Date :06-Sep-2019 |
DRM Somesh Kumar handing over the offer letter to representatives of M/s Haldiram International Pvt. Ltd. as others look on.
Staff Reporter :
In the zone’s first, Central Railway’s Nagpur Division will generate an additional revenue of Rs 52.56 lakh per annum for five years
Central Railway’s Nagpur Division became the first in the zone to ink a pact for selling space on locomotives as part of generating non-fare revenue. On Thursday, the division awarded the contract to M/s Haldiram International Pvt. Ltd., a well-known city-based group, for a sum of Rs 52.56 lakh per year. The agreement is for five-years. For the above period, the group, having strong presence in snacks and sweets, gets the right to advertise on five locomotives. Informing media about the agreement, Railway officials said, “WAP-5 and WAP-7 locomotives were offered for advertising purpose. The bids were opened today itself and entire process was completed within 65 minutes.
The company will have space on both the sides of a locomotive for advertisement.” Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Somesh Kumar handed over the offer letter to V S Rao, Executive Director, M/s Haldiram, on Thursday. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Krishnath Patil, Senior Electrical Engineer (TRS) Amit Kumar Gupta, Assistant Commercial Manager (NFR) V C Thool and Commercial Inspector Tara Prasad were present on the occasion. Officials said, “The company will have the liberty to choose the routes on which it wants to promote its brand.
On the routes selected, the locomotives bearing the advertisement/logo will run. This will help a company to reach larger masses particularly in those areas where it wants to make its name. The locomotives would be hauling long distance trains.
Another advantage is, sometimes the locomotives are attached to other trains also facilitating the company to promote itself in other parts of the country too.” The group otherwise has strong national presence and in the competitive snacks market Haldiram is trying to make a new foray. With Railway Board stressing on need to tap non-ticket revenue, Divisions across the country are going for innovative ideas. A few years back, the space on bogies were offered for advertisements and number of big companies grabbed the opportunity. Sometimes back, Nagpur Division also inked a pact wherein it provided steps at railway station for display of logo. The initiative is a big success in Mumbai where TV channels are using the staircases at railway stations for across the length display during launch of new serials.