The Indian Railways is looking at the option to implement a "give it up" scheme, where it asks passengers who can afford to pay higher, to sacrifice the subsidy on train tickets, an IANS report said.

News agency IANS in its report citing a senior railway officer, said that the railways department has submitted a 100-day plan to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to increase their earnings.

The Indian Railways only charges 53 percent of the cost of a normal ticket to passengers, adding pressure to its earnings. The 47 percent is deducted as subsidy.

The option to give up subsidy is similar to that implemented on domestic LPG cylinders. Residents in India can buy 12 LPG cylinders weighing 14.2 kg a year at a subsidized rate. They also have an option to voluntarily opt out of the subsidy scheme. Positive response was received from over 1.25 crore residents after it was implemented in 2014.

The Railways intend to give the option to passengers at the time of ticket purchase wherein they can choose to pay for the ticket with or without subsidy. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) will have to make the required changes in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) website to be able to provide the option.

The report further said that the railways earn about Rs 50,000 crore by selling tickets and will be able to meet its target of Rs 56,000 crore in 2019-20, if the 'give it up' scheme is implemented. It also said that the Indian Railways aims to aggressively promote the scheme over various social media platforms.