IRCTC

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Limited was established on September 27, 1999. IRCTC is a public sector undertaking (PSU) of the Ministry of Railways. It was categorised as a Miniratna PSU in May 2008.

The catering and hospitality services arm of Indian Railways manages different services like online ticketing, rail tourism, catering and selling of food items onboard trains and at railway stations.

IRCTC was listed on NSE and BSE in 2019. The government holding 87% stake in the company and the remaining shares of the company being publicly traded. The government divested another 20% in December 2020, further slashing its shareholding to 67% in IRCTC.

Market capitalisation stood at more than ₹61,500 crore as of December 12, 2023. IRCTC Ltd share price has surged more than 171% in the last three years.

The railway PSU has gained several milestones over the years, including a total of 13.4 lakh tickets booked in a single day in April 2015.

IRCTC businesses operations

Online ticketing

It offers booking of e-tickets, I-tickets and Tatkal tickets through its website and mobile app. It also provides an SMS facility for checking PNR as well as live train statuses. In August 2021, IRCTC introduced a smart card system for passengers who travel with unreserved tickets in trains. The cards can be recharged at railway stations and online.

Catering and hospitality

IRCTC is among the largest hospitality and catering companies in India, with services spread across not only passenger trains and railway stations but also station premises and other ancillary business activities.

It manages the entire on-board catering services of Indian Railways, operating pantry cars of Rajdhani trains, Shatabdi trains, Duronto Trains, Gatimaan Express and Mail/Express trains, along with newer trains like Vande Bharat Express and Tejas.

IRCTC also manages 144 multi-cuisine food plazas, 160 fast food units, 180 refreshment rooms at railway stations, about 58 Jan Ahaar centres and 23 retiring rooms across India.

Bottled water

IRCTC launched its own packaged drinking water brand called Rail Neer in May 2003 for passengers. The bottles are produced in completely automatic plants with no manual handling of water at any stage.

Currently, there are 14 operational Rail Neer plants with a cumulative production capacity of 18.4 lakh bottles each day.

Tourism

IRCTC organises budget and deluxe package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. One of its renowned Indian packages for budget tourists is Bharat Darshan, while some luxury packages include trains like Maharajas' Express, Royal Rajasthan On Wheels, Buddhist Circuit Train, Deccan Odyssey and The Royal Orient.

Its packages range from an affordable rate of ₹900 per day to high-end rates of ₹70,000 a day too. Currently, IRCTC operates over 70 rail tour packages.

Financial Highlights

• IRCTC reported a total revenue of ₹3,541.47 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2023 (FY23), up 88.5% from ₹1,878.57 crore in the preceding fiscal. • Its profit after tax jumped 52.5% in FY23 to ₹1,005.88 crore year-on-year from ₹659.55 crore in the preceding fiscal. • IRCTC’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 47.1% YoY to ₹1,396.65 crore in FY23.