The Indian Railways has earned almost Rs 140 crore from the sale of platform tickets in the financial year 2018-19, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Parliament on Friday.

In his reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Goyal said the railways earned Rs 230.47 crore from advertisements and shops, including those on platforms, and Rs 139.20 crore in revenue was made from sale of platform tickets in the year 2018-19.

"As per the extant policy, contracts for shops and advertisements are awarded after open competitive bidding. Therefore, it is not correct to say that specific rates are finalised for such contracts," he said.

"The rates are outcome of the competition during the bid. However, in order to ensure minimum revenue, the bidding is done after finalising minimum licence fee and the quotes are to be submitted above the same," Goyal said.

Last month, the railway minister informed that the Indian Railways' earnings for the previous financial year 2017-18 was Rs 204.10 crore from non-fare revenue.

In the parliament, Goyal also said that the railways department was not incurring losses and shared his plans to generate revenue including non-fare revenue.

He clarified that there is no proposal to increase train fare despite an increase in diesel prices on account of higher excise duty and cess. He further said that Indian Railways is gradually reducing its dependence on diesel as it plans for 100 percent electrification by 2022.