Chapter: 5 IRCTC Structure, Functions and Role -...

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Chapter: 5

IRCTC – Structure, Functions and Role Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation as a public

sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways was setup in 1999

with the objective of professionalizing catering services and promoting

domestic and international tourism. It has since then grown manifold

and diversified its objectives beyond catering and tourism services.

IRCTC has launched various tourism products and services for

promotion of tourism industry in India. It is best known for changing the

face of railway ticketing in India. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism

Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a Public Sector Enterprise under Ministry of

Railways. IRCTC was incorporated on 27th September, 1999 as an

extended arm of the Indian Railways to upgrade, professionalize and

manage the catering and hospitality services at stations, on trains and

other locations and to promote domestic and international tourism

through development of budget hotels, special tour packages,

information & commercial publicity and global reservation systems.

While discharging its mandate, the Company has made a significant

mark in its passenger-services oriented business lines like setting up of

Food Plazas on Railway premises, „Railneer', Rail Tour Packages and

„Internet Ticketing' bringing great deal of professionalism into the

operations. In addition to above, IRCTC is managing on Board Catering

Services in Rajdhani / Shatabdi / Duronto and Mail / Express Trains

and Static Catering Units such as Refreshment Rooms, AVMs, Book

Stalls, Milk Stalls, Ice Cream Stalls, Petha & Peda Stalls etc. across the

Indian Railway Network.

Industries Structure and Development:

All major countries including the fast growing emerging

economies are seeing a significant slowdown. The global economic

environment which was tenuous at best throughout the year, turned

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sharply adverse in September, 2011, owing to the turmoil in the euro-

zone countries and questions about others, reflected in sharp ratings

downgrades of sovereign debt in most major advanced countries. In

2011-12, India found itself in the heart of conflicting demands such as

managing growth and price stability. However in comparison to global

economic environment, India remains among the front-runners. With

agriculture and services continuing to perform well, India's slowdown

can be attributed to global factors and domestic factors like the

tightening of monetary policy owing to high and persistent headline

inflation and slowing investment and industrial activity.

The services sector has been a major and vital force steadily

driving growth in the Indian economy for more than a decade. The

economy has successfully navigated the turbulent years of the recent

global economic crisis because of the vitality of this sector in the

domestic economy and its prominent role in India's external economic

interactions. All the three major sectors of the economy, namely

agriculture, industry, and services witnessed higher than trend growth

rates at 3.9 percent, 8.0 per cent, and 9.6 per cent respectively. Clearly

the services sector has emerged as the key driver of growth in the

Indian economy. The growth of this sector has shown the least inter-

temporal variations. With the declining share of the agriculture sector

and reasonably consistent growth in the services sector, the variations

in growth rate of GDP are lately being associated with the variations in

the industry sector.

Catering and Tourism Sector:

The food industry in India is one of the largest in terms of

production, consumption and growth prospects. By 2015, according to

an assessment the Indian Food Industry is expected to reach $258

billion from the current level of $180 billion. The growth in the size of the

middle to upper classes which is projected to increase at more than 300

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per cent between 2005 and 2015, and youth population that is expected

to grow annually by 11 per cent which will lead to increase in demand

for convenient travel option and demand for variety of hygienic &

healthy food. An increase in Per Capita Disposable Income by 8 per

cent over the last 5 years has lead to an increase in Per Capita

Consumption Expenditure on food by over 20 per cent but this is still

much below the international norms.

Catering services business is a rewarding option with huge

potential of growth. Considering the importance of social celebrations

and events, corporate cultures and social lifestyle, the catering industry

is expected to expand its status and profitable nature further. The

restaurant industry came up with good figures even when other

industries were struggling during the period of recession. The

consumers in the India middle & upper class spend about 30 percent of

their total food budget in the restaurants. This clearly indicates how the

establishments like restaurants, cafes and other types of eateries are

growing their profits year after year.

The Indian hospitality industry is projected to grow at a rate of 8.8

per cent during 2007-16, placing India as the second-fastest growing

market in the world. The Indian hotel room market for 10 metros is

estimated to expand at 17 per cent per annum. According to a study by

Knight Frank India, in terms of the number of rooms sought per day, the

hospitality sector is estimated to grow at 10.3 per cent per annum.

IRCTC having experience in managing Budget Hotels/Rail Yatri

Niwases has already approached State Tourism Boards and State

Industrial Corporations such as Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, West

Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. to provide space for setting up of

Budget Hotels. Proposals from Kerala and West Bengal Governments

are in advance stages and likely to be finalized in 2012-13. Apart from

this, Ministry of Railways has also been approached to reconsider its

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decision of setting up of Budget Hotels at Railway premises. Railway

Board is also considering transfer of management of Multi Functional

Complexes (MFC), Retiring Rooms, Pre-arrival and Post-Departure

facilities etc. IRCTC has taken up setting up and management of

Executive Lounge at New Delhi station as a pilot project. Ministry has

also approved 50 locations on Indian Railways to provide such lounges.

India's tourism industry is experiencing a strong period of growth,

driven by the burgeoning Indian middle class, growth in high spending

foreign tourists, and coordinated government campaigns to promote

'Incredible India'. The tourism industry in India is substantial and vibrant,

and the country is fast becoming a major global destination. India's

travel and tourism industry is one of them most profitable industries in

the country, and also credited with a substantial amount of foreign

exchange earnings. Disposable income in India has been growing

rapidly and the share being spent on travel is increasing. The Tourism

Ministry has played an important role in the development of the industry,

initiating advertising campaigns such as the 'Incredible India' campaign,

which promoted India's culture and tourist attractions in a fresh and

memorable way.

India is well known for its natural resources and cultural resources

with many World Heritage sites, both natural and cultural; rich fauna,

many fairs and exhibitions and strong creative industries. India also has

quite good air transport, particularly given the country's stage of

development, and reasonable ground transport infrastructure. India by

rail offers a fascinating odyssey through time and space, cultures and

history offering magical glimpses of unity amidst diversity, shrouded in

enchanting, mystery colors that captures the heart while soothing the

soul. The country has an extensive network of railways covering

multitude of tourist destinations. It runs train services all over the

country which cater to different type of travelers. Railway is a very

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important driver of tourism in any country and even more so one as

large as India with weak road & hotel infrastructure. Being the tourism

arm of Indian Railways, IRCTC makes an important contribution to

overall growth of tourism in the country. It is also focusing on providing

value for money services to middle end domestic customers by its

range of tour packages.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. has been

set up by the Ministry of Railways with the basic purpose of hiving off

entire catering and tourism activity of the railways to the new

Corporation so as to professionalize and upgrade these services with

public-private participation. Rail based Tourism in India will be the

specific vehicle for achieving high growth in coordination with state

agencies, tour operators, travel agents and the hospitality industry. A

dynamic marketing strategy in association with public and private

agencies, tour operators, transporters, hoteliers and local tour

promoters is on the anvil. Indian Railways span global volumes in

hospitality and catering sectors with services provided to 13 million

passengers every day.

Mission:

"Enhance customer services and facilitation in railway catering,

hospitality, travel and tourism with best industry practices".

Objectives of IRCTC:

To be a customer friendly company through constant innovation,

technology driven and human resource development.

Optimize resources, increase manpower productivity through

quality product vending and innovative marketing strategies.

Upgrade and consolidate catering services in the organized sector.

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Expand areas of core competencies; enhance business

opportunities through efficient public - private partnerships to

maximize generation of resources.

Imbibe strong and ethical work culture through teamwork, build and

reposition Indian Railways in the emerging services sector.

Evolve high standards of business ethics, quality management and

effective cost control measures.

Concern for the environment and heritage

Organization Structure:

Corporate Office of IRCTC is situated at New Delhi, which is

headed by the Managing Director. Managing Director is being assisted

by three Directors, Director(Catering Services), Director (Tourism &

Marketing) and Director (Finance) and nine Group General Managers.

For smooth operations of the business across all over the country, five

Zonal Offices are working at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and

Secunderabad. South Zone Office is headed by Regional Director and

all other Zonal Offices are headed by Group General Managers. All

Group General Managers have vast experience of working in Indian

Railways. These Zonal Offices are assisted by ten Regional Offices at

Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Patna, Bhopal,

Ahmadabad, Bangalore and Ernakulum, which are headed by Chief

Regional Managers / Regional Managers.

Manpower:

At present IRCTC has 1762 employees on its roll. The employees

comprise of IRCTC Direct Employees, Deemed Deputation absorbees,

Deemed Deputationists, deputationists and fixed term employees. For

bringing professionalism in the work culture, IRCTC has recruited

professionals in different field like Human Resources - Tourism,

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Catering and Finance, through direct recruitment or campus

recruitment. The employees of IRCTC are shown in Table 5.1. There

has been declining trend in number of employees in IRCTC. The

highest number of employees was reported in 2005-06 while it was

recorded low in 2001-02. During 2005-06, there were 5616 employees

in IRCTC which declined to 1762 during 2011-12.

Table: 5.1

Employees of IRCTC

Year Number of Employees

2001-02 19

2002-03 45

2003-04 1318

2004-05 2146

2005-06 5616

2006-07 5246

2007-08 4963

2008-09 3780

2009-10 2645

2011-11 1934

2011-12 1762

Source: IRCTC, 2012

Financial Performance:

During the year 2008-09, the Corporation achieved a total income

of Rs. 618.77 Crores as compared to Rs. 527.66 Crores in 2007-08

thereby registering a growth of 17.30 per cent. The increase was

achieved in spite of the fact that bed roll and cleaning business has

been transferred back to Railways. The major increase in the income in

the year 2008-09 over previous year was achieved due to licensee

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catering, quantum jump in internet ticketing and tourism activities. The

income of licence catering increased on account of higher number of

units put on tender, efficient tendering system and increase in licence

fee from static units. Quantum jump in internet ticketing was witnessed

due to good marketing efforts, upgraded infrastructure and improved

customer care. The growth in tourism business was achieved due to

IRCTC's foray into educational tour business, tour package business

takeover of Bharat Darshan trains by IRCTC. A net profit of Rs. 46.50

Crores was earned during 2008-09 as compared to Rs. 20.75 Crores in

2007-08 due to enhanced revenue and control on expenditure. An

amount of Rs.30.00 Crore has been provided as Haulage Charges as

was provided during the previous year. As at 31st March 2009, the

Reserves and Surplus of the Corporation stood at Rs.94.46 Crore. The

Net Worth went up from Rs. 78.85 Crore during the previous year to

Rs.114.46 Crore during the year under review. During the year 2011-12,

the Corporation achieved a total income of Rs. 554.11 Crore, as

compared to Rs. 764.93 Crore in 2010-11. Gross profit of Rs. 76.54

Crore was achieved during the year 2011-12 as compared to Rs.

129.79 Crore in the previous year 2010-2011. The total income and

profits have declined with transfer of Licensee Catering segment to

Railways. Except Catering, all other business segments of the

Corporation have shown considerable growth. The Net Worth of the

Corporation reached Rs. 246.70 Crore as on 31.3.2012 as compared to

Rs. 211.41 Crore as on 31.3.2011. The Board of Directors has

recommended a dividend of Rs. 9.70 Crore as final dividend for the year

2011-12. This works out to 48.5 per cent of the paid up Equity Share

Capital. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India has conducted

the supplementary audit on audited accounts of the Corporation for the

year ended 31st March, 2012 under Section 619(4) of Companies Act,

1956. The Company has just received CAG comments on the Annual

Accounts of the Company for 2011-12, the same along with

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Management reply thereto have been placed before the members.

Income and expenditure of IRCTC are shown in Table 5.2. There has

been increasing trend in income and expenditure of IRCTC except the

year 2001-12 as the year witnessed a decline in both income and

expenditure. The income of IRCTC was reported Rs. 764.93 Crore

during 2010-11 while expenditure was recorded Rs. 620.69 Crore in the

corresponding year. Expenditure as percentage of income was reported

highest in 2007-08 (92.13 per cent) and lowest in 2010-11 (81.14 per

cent). There has been phenomenon growth in the profit of IRCTC. The

profit was recorded Rs. 144.24 Crore during 2010-11. However, the

profit has declined to Rs. 91.28 Crore during 2011-12.

Table: 5.2

Income and Expenditure of IRCTC

(Rs. Crore)

Year Income Expenditure per cent of Expenditure

against Income

Profit

2001-02 9.85 8.66 86.90 1.19

2002-03 73.61 63.57 86.36 10.04

2003-04 69.59 60.14 86.42 9.45

2004-05 127.09 115.55 90.92 11.54

2005-06 267.98 232.96 86.93 35.02

2006-07 433.54 398.22 91.85 35.32

2007-08 527.66 486.12 92.13 41.54

2008-09 618.77 436.68 88.73 82.09

2009-10 721.97 614.63 85.13 107.34

2010-11 764.93 620.69 81.14 144.24

2011-12 554.11 462.83 83.53 91.28

Source: IRCTC, Annual Report, 2012

Capital of IRCTC is shown in Table 5.3. There has been

increasing trend in capital formation in IRCTC during 2001-02 to 2011-

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2012. During 2011-12, the share capital was reported to be Rs. 20

Crore while capital employed was reported Rs. 244.69 Crore. The value

of net fixed assets of IRCTC was reported Rs. 178.76 Crore while net

worth was recorded Rs. 246.70 Crore during the corresponding year.

There has been manifold increase in capital formation in IRCTC in

terms of capital employed as well as net worth. However, the share

capital has been stagnant during the period of 2001-02 to 2011-12.

Table: 5.3

Capital of IRCTC

(Rs. Crore)

Year Share Capital

Capital Employed

Net Fixed Assets

Inventories Net Worth

2001-02 20.23 20.33 0.36 -- 20.97

2002-03 20.00 14.18 4.11 -- 24.98

2003-04 20.00 27.76 22.80 1.74 27.47

2004-05 20.00 31.75 25.33 3.73 31.79

2005-06 20.00 48.92 31.01 7.20 47.24

2006-07 20.00 63.19 41.61 5.97 62.96

2007-08 20.00 80.53 61.38 5.73 78.85

2008-09 20.00 103.87 76.36 5.19 114.46

2009-10 20.00 151.72 126.84 7.79 162.76

2010-11 20.00 195.05 136.18 6.21 211.41

2011-12 20.00 244.69 178.76 5.45 246.70

Source: IRCTC, Annual Report, 2012

Contribution to Revenues of Railways:

During the year the Corporation contributed a sum of Rs.76.26

Crore to the revenues of Indian Railways as against a sum of Rs. 62.76

Crore during the previous year. Contribution to the Revenues of

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Railways comprises Haulage Charges, Concession fee, License fee,

User Charges and Dividend. The sharing of revenues with the various

Zonal Railways has been made in terms of Memorandum of

Understanding dated 17 th January, 2007. In addition to the above,

tickets worth Rs.3888.82 Crore were booked during the year as against

Rs.1705.03 Crore during the previous year.

Main Business Activities:

On Board Catering Services and Static catering units on the

Indian Railway Network: Hospitality Services covers on board catering

services in the trains, catering services at stations through stalls, food

plazas/fast food units & Automatic Vending Machines commissioned at

A, B & C class of Railway stations. IRCTC is managing currently 19

Rajdhani, 13 Shatabdi, 16 JanShatabdi, 6 Duronto Express , 9 Garib

Raths, 205 Mail/Express trains and 118 trains have train side vending

facility. IRCTC has currently 53 Food Plazas, 13 Fast Food units and 1

Quick Service Food Kiosks, 677 Automated Vending Machine , 2950

Stalls, 3291 Trolleys & Khomchas , 698 Book Stalls, 249 Milk Stall &

7918 Static units spread over 1008 no. of Special A, A, B & C Category

of Stations over Indian Railways network.

Manufacturing Packaged Drinking Water for Indian Railway

Passengers: Two plants of Railneer packaged drinking water are

operating at Nangloi ( Delhi ) and Danapur ( Bihar ).The capacity of the

plants was increased from 5,500 cartons per day to 8,500 cartons per

day during March, 2009 for Nangloi Plant and during December, 2009

of Danapur Plant.

New Rail Neer Plants: For Southern Region, Rail Neer Plant of

15,000 cartons per day is being set up at Palur near Chennai. Tender

has been awarded and physical work for setting up building is in

advance stage. For Western region, architect and plant consultants

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have been appointed for Rail Neer plant at Ambernath near Mumbai.

The rated capacity of the plant is 25,000 cartons per day.

Departmental Catering: Four Rajdhani trains and four mail/express

trains were made operational in 2009. Patna Rajdhani train was taken

over under departmental operation from August 2008. Total 518 stalls

and 419 trolleys were under departmental operation during the year.

Quality Control and Complaint Redressal System:

In order to maintain quality of services onboard trains, IRCTC

has set up control rooms at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and

Secunderabad. These Zonal Controls have been strengthened and

equipped with phone, fax & PC with broadband connectivity, and are

operational around the clock, seven days a week. Central Control office

at New Delhi regularly coordinates with all the five zonal offices for

effective monitoring of the complaints & catering activities. A toll free no.

1800-111-139 has been launched for swift redressal of complaints &

suggestions conveyed by passengers on phone. Passengers can call

this no. from train as well without any charges & register their

grievance/suggestion. In order to facilitate another option of lodging

complaint/suggestion by passenger, facility of receipt of complaint

through SMS on phone number 9971-111-139 has been started. This

will enable the traveling passengers to have easy access to the

complaints redressal system without any other charges. Quality Control

Professionals having Diploma/Degree holders in hospitality with 2 or

more years of field experience were inducted/ engaged in August, 2008

& posted in Zonal & Regional offices. Specific trains have been allotted

to them for achieving overall improvements in on board services.

Food Safety Audit:

An improved understanding of the risk based approach and

growing awareness about the impact of food safety on public health has

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led to make significant changes to their food control system in recent

years. Keeping in view the importance of food safety and other related

issues of the food preparation and serving areas on static/mobile

catering units, food safety & hygiene audit were performed against the

criteria including cleaning and sanitation, food storage, personal

hygiene, personal practices, presentation applicable to IRCTC and

infrastructure and pest control applicable to Railways. Food Safety and

Hygiene audit were carried out on 680 catering units during March 2007

to August 2009. Mobile units and Base Kitchens covered under Food

Audits include 540 trains, 115 Base Kitchens & 25 Food Plazas

respectively.

A leading market research firm M/s IMRB International has been

engaged to measure the degree of satisfaction of rail travelers on

various aspects such as Food & refreshment, Bed roll & linen, Staff

Behavior & Compartment related aspects to identify the areas for

improvement. The factors responsible for deriving the overall onboard

experience for the travelers have been classified into the following four

broad aspects: i) Compartment Related Aspects, ii) Food &

Refreshment Related Aspects, iii) Staff Behaviour Related Aspects & iv)

Linen & Bedroll Related Aspects. A total of 501 trains have been

covered in 6 rounds over last two and half years. Overall improvement

of 2.01 per cent in Rajdhani trains, 1.03 per cent in Shatabdi Trains &

2.24 per cent in Mail/Express trains have been observed while making

comparison of rating for year 2007-08 & 2008-09.

Expansion of Passenger Ticketing and PRS Network

Through Internet / Modern Technology Based Ticketing: IRCTC

provides tickets to the public in the comforts of their home/residence

instead of visiting the Railway Reservation Centers for booking. The

delivery of tickets is made either through the courier or a person can

himself take the print out for travelling. On an average more than

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2,03,000 tickets are sold through IRCTC's website in a day. By doing

this, IRCTC is not only saving the time of the public but also saving their

cost of travelling to these centers. For Railways it is saving on their

infrastructure like buildings, air-conditioning, electricity, furniture, staff

etc. The spirit behind the project was that instead of the customers

going to Passenger Reservation System (PRS), the PRS should be

brought to the customer.

Managing Railway Enquiry Call Centre: IRCTC is managing a

Call Center for passenger enquiry. A customer can dial 139 from

anywhere in the country and get all information from Call Center related

to train timing, PNR confirmation, train routes and other relevant

information related to Indian Railways.

Running of Special Train, Special Charters / Coaches and

Promotion of Value Added Tours: Railway Tourism has seen

excellent growth in India Right from IRCTC's inception, we have

undertaken dynamic marketing strategy with major tour operators and

State Tourism as our partners for providing exclusive tour packages

across the country. At present IRCTC is providing following Tourism

services across India:

Buddhist Circuit Special Train: IRCTC has designed a train for

the Buddhist Circuit keeping in mind the profile of Buddhist tourists. It

covers important sites connected to life of Buddha and Agra : Bodh

Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Lumbini, Shravasti, Rajgir, Nalanda. The

train offers comprehensive on board and off board services comprising

of catering, housekeeping, hotel accommodation, road transport,

sightseeing, trained tourist guides, security, medical facilities, insurance

etc. all inclusive in the package. This train won the National Tourism

Award in Feb., 2009

Bharat Darshan – Village on Wheels: IRCTC is operating

Bharat Darshan – Village on Wheels Train for Budget Traveller @

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Rs 500/- per day (all inclusive packages). The package includes Train

journey, accommodation, road transport, site seeing, meals etc. The

itineraries range from 7 to 20 days covering major tourist and religious

places across India.

Luxury Tourist Train: IRCTC has set up a 50:50 JV Company,

Royale India Train Tours Limited (RIRTL) in Participation with M/s Cox

& Kings India Limited. RIRTL will run Pan India Luxury Tourist Train.

Estimated Cost of the train is Rs.49.48 Crore. The Luxury Train named

as Maharajas' Express is owned by IRCTC. Marketing and operation of

the Maharajas' Express would be done by RIRTL. The train was

officially unveiled at the ITB Berlin in March, 2009. The train has started

its commercial operation with effect from 6 th March, 2010.

Rail Tour Packages: IRCTC offers all Inclusive packages with

confirmed Rail reservation, hotel accommodation, road transportation,

meals, sightseeing etc. At present over 70 packages for important

tourist destinations across India covering Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil

Nadu, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh etc. are being

operated.

Hill Charters: The Steam trains are operated on Darjeeling

Himalayan Railway, Kangra Valley Railway, Kalka-Shimla Railway and

Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Hill charters showcase the special

characteristics of the respective hill sections with heritage stations,

seasonal features, breath taking scenery & adventure tourism. IRCTC

offers single window value added services.

Educational Tours: IRCTC offers Educational Tours Package

with rich educational content and in a caring environment for the

students of educational institutions across the country. The facility is

being used by Kendriya Vidyala Sangathan, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of

Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and Delhi State Government Schools.

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Tourism Portal: IRCTC's tourism portal www.railtourismindia.

com, is the fast growing a one stop travel shop and meet all the travel &

tourism needs of a tourist. Online booking of tour packages, hotels and

Car Rental across the country is becoming increasingly popular through

this National Tourism Award winner tourism portal of IRCTC.

Budget Hotel: IRCTC is planning to develop Budget Hotels

through Public Private Partnership. Budget Hotels are to be set up in

the vicinity of railway stations for tourists and rail users. These Budget

Hotels will provide quality guestrooms with modern facilities, décor and

ambience on affordable prices, choice of food and beverage services

and Web enabled reservation system. At present four budget hotels are

operational at New Delhi, Howrah, Puri & Ranchi in the existing

buildings.

Future Plans:

Some of the initiatives planned for tourism, catering activities and

Internet Ticketing are as under:

Catering:

Strategic tie ups: IRCTC is working towards tie ups in the areas

of mobile catering, Rail Neer and product formation.

Static Units: Streamlining of procurement process,

standardization of services and automation in base kitchens is the focus

area in major static units.

New Rail Neer Plants: For Southern Region, Rail Neer plant is

being set up at Pulur near Chennai. Tender has been awarded and

physical work for setting up building is in advance stage. For Western

region, architect and plant consultants have been appointed for Rail

Neer plant at Ambernath near Mumbai.

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Modular Stalls: Replacement of all catering stalls with uniform

design of modular stalls is proposed to be undertaken and M/s Jindal

Steel is working on a prototype which will give longer life and aesthetic

look.

Cell Kitchens/Base Kitchens: Plans are to set up another 100

licensee cell kitchens.

Food Plazas/Fast Food Units/Quick Service Food Kiosks:

More than 20 food plazas, 20 Fast Food Units and 5 QSFK are in

advance stage of planning.

Food Courts: IRCTC is planning to develop food courts at

stations with contemporary interior designs.

Segment-wise Performance of IRCTC:

IRCTC operates in two major business areas i.e. Catering &

Hospitality and Travel & Tourism. The Catering division has three

segments namely; Licensee Catering, Departmental Catering and

packaged drinking water 'Railneer'.

Licensee Catering Business:

During the year 2011-12, the Licensee catering business

registered an income of Rs. 30.38 Crore as against Rs. 316.26 Crore

achieved during 2010-11. The Segment result (profit) achieved was Rs.

9.42 Crore during the year 2011-12 as against Rs. 78.74 Crore during

the year 2010-11. The decline in the income of the segment was due to

transfer of Licensee catering business to the Railways on

implementation of Catering Policy, 2010.

Departmental Catering Business:

The Departmental Catering business registered an income of

Rs. 197.64 Crore during the year 2011-2012 as against Rs. 198.58

Crore achieved during year 2010-11. The NRC units contributed Rs.

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10.79 Crore to the total revenue of the Departmental Catering Business

in the year 2011-12 as compared to the Rs. 6.64 Crore in the year

2010-11. The loss of Departmental catering during the year 2011-12

has come down to Rs. 53.59 Crore from Rs. 55.47 Crore during the

year 2010-11 in spite of high inflation rate in food products and no

increase in sales prices.

Railneer Business:

During the year 2011-12, the Railneer business registered an

income of Rs. 45.15 crore as against Rs. 23.96 crore achieved during

year 2010-11. This does not include sale of Rail Neer through

departmental catering, amounting to Rs.13.05 crore as against

Rs.19.36 crore in the previous year. The loss during the year was

Rs. 0.82 crore as against profit of Rs. 2.73 crore during the previous

year, which is on account of increase in allocable expenditure, which

has gone up due to increase in turnover of the segment and significant

decrease in turnover of licensee catering segment.

Tourism Business:

Growth of Tourism by IRCTC is shown in Table 5.4. There has

been fluctuating trend in sales and revenue growth however; number of

charter trains and coaches has shown an increasing trend. During the

year 2011-12, the Tourism business registered an income of Rs. 98.95

crore as against Rs. 67.04 crore during year 2010-2011, indicating a

growth of about 48 per cent. The growth is due to operation of Maharaja

Express by IRCTC from 08.01.2012, Air Ticketing and also increase of

revenue from in package tourism. The Segment result (loss) of

Rs.10.83 crore was suffered during the year as against Rs. 6.22 crore

during the previous year. Though the operating profit went up from Rs.

3 crore in 2010-11 to Rs. 4.86 crore in 2011-12, the segment incurred

loss mainly due to allocation of common allocable expenses as

explained above.

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Table: 5.4

Growth of Tourism by IRCTC D

eta

ils

2001-0

2

2002-0

3

2003-0

4

2004-0

5

2005-0

6

2006-0

7

2007-0

8

2008-0

9 (

Pro

v.)

Sales (in Lac) 314 1146 709 662 626 1136 917 2917

Berth/Seat (No.) -- 28308 16035 8771 655 200 7000 5500

Charter Trains 41 37 55 99 136 126 11 28

Charter Coach 104 256 400 326 343 316 40 131

Bharat Darshan (Trips)

-- -- -- 7 5 22 36 47

Mahaparinirvan Express (Trips)

-- -- -- -- -- -- 7 7

Revenue Growth per cent

NA 265 per cent

-38 per cent

-7 per cent

-5 per cent

82 per cent

-14 per cent

200 per cent

Operating Profit 22 83 40 41 37 60 55 268

Segment Result 22 17 -60 -37 -131 -127 -324 -268

Share in Revenue

3 per cent

22 per cent

11 per cent

5 per cent

2 per cent

3 per cent

2 per cent

5 per cent

Source: IRCTC

Internet Ticketing business:

During the year 2011-12, the Internet Ticketing business

registered an income of Rs. 160.64 crore as against Rs. 142.92 crore

achieved during year 2010-11. The Segment profit was Rs. 111.01

crore during the year as against Rs. 94.14 crore during previous year.

Increase in internet ticketing was witnessed due to upgraded

infrastructure and improved customer care services. The Company

needs to reinvent itself keeping in view the issue brought in this report.

For ensuring better future performance it has to look for opportunities

for growth outside the railways and cash on same besides ensuring

greater support from Indian Railways by providing excellent services in

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railway related areas. The Corporation has diversified into non-railway

catering and related areas like – Facility Management, Food Parks,

Budget Hotels, Motels, Hospitality Hubs, Hospitality institutes etc. by

harnessing the existing capabilities. Corporation is also exploring the

field of commercial catering at Malls, Business Centres, and Institutional

Catering etc. Revenue generation by IRCTC is shown in Table 5.5.

There has been fluctuating trend in revenue generation by IRCTC

during last three years. Licensee catering constituted more than half of

the share in revenue generation of IRCTC during 2009-10 while

departmental catering constituted 37.09 per cent share in revenue

generation by IRCTC during 2011-12. Similarly, during the year 2010-

11, departmental catering constituted 42.78 per cent share in revenue

generation. Tourism constituted 6.34 per cent share in 2009-10 which

increased by three times during 2011-12.

Table: 5.5

Revenue Generation by IRCTC (Rs. Lakh)

Particular 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

Licensee Catering 36944.08 3162.17 3038.48

( per cent) 52.29 6.81 5.70

Rail Neer 2243.31 2395.88 4514.60

( per cent) 3.17 5.16 8.47

Internet Ticketing 12289.25 14292.46 16064.43

( per cent) 17.39 30.79 30.15

Tourism 4472.54 6730.93 9895.41

( per cent) 6.34 14.45 18.57

Departmental Catering 14705.66 19857.94 19763.62

( per cent) 20.81 42.78 37.09

Total 70654.85 46412.41 53276.54

( per cent) 100.00 100.00 100.00

Source: IRCTC, 2012

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Income of IRCTC from tourism sector is shown in Table 5.6.

There has been decline in the income of IRCTC from tourism sector in

2011-12 as compared to 2009-10. Licensee catering constituted 67.61

per cent share in total income of IRCTC during 2009-10 while internet

ticketing accounted for 60.25 per cent share in 2010-11 in the income of

IRCTC. Similarly, during 2011-12, internet ticketing constituted 56.16

per cent share in total income of IRCTC. Tourism constituted 8.34 per

cent share in 2009-10 while it increased to 33.51 per cent in 2011-12 in

the total income of IRCTC.

Table: 5.6

Income of IRCTC from Tourism Sector

(Rs. Lakh)

Particular 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12


( per cent) 67.61 12.81 9.81

Rail Neer 16.30 16.49 11.34

( per cent) 0.03 0.07 0.04


( per cent) 23.63 60.25 56.16

Tourism 4338.07 6228.19 9588.65

( per cent) 8.34 26.25 33.51


( per cent) 0.34 0.62 0.48

Total 52008.08 23722.16 28609.53

( per cent) 100.00 100.00 100.00

Source: IRCTC, 2012

Assets of IRCTC in tourism sector are shown in Table 5.7. There

has been significant increase in the value of assets of IRCTC during last

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three years. The value of assets of IRCTC was reported significantly in

case of licensee catering (63.93 per cent) in 2009-10 to 69.62 per cent

during 2010-11 and 64.46 per cent in 2011-12. Internet ticketing

accounted for 17.05 per cent share in 2009-10 which increased to 28.28

per cent in 2011-12. The share of tourism was reported 8.92 per cent in

2009-10 which declined to 5.72 per cent in 2011-12. The share of Rail

Neer was also reported significant i.e. 5.56 per cent during 2011-12.

Table: 5.7

Assets of IRCTC in Tourism Sector

(Rs. Lakh)

Particular 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12


( per cent) 63.93 69.62 64.46

Rail Neer 2881.87 2576.34 4322.58

( per cent) 4.13 3.38 5.56


( per cent) 17.05 13.00 28.28

Tourism 6219.64 5303.15 4443.33

( per cent) 8.92 6.96 5.72


( per cent) 9.72 6.78 7.74

Total 69689.05 76135.89 77706.81

( per cent) 100.00 100.00 100.00

Source: IRCTC, 2012

Capital expenditure of IRCTC in tourism sector is shown in

Table 5.8. During 2009-10, out of total capital expenditure, about 3/4th

capital expenditure was recorded in tourism sector only while the share

declined to only 8.51 per cent during 2011-12. The other important

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sectors of capital expenditure during 2011-12 were reported to be Rail

Neer (58.33 per cent) and Departmental Catering (17.01 per cent).

Table: 5.8

Capital Expenditure of IRCTC in Tourism Sector

(Rs. Lakh)

Particular 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12

Licensee Catering 336.95 256.50 --

( per cent) 6.56 41.07 --

Rail Neer 275.39 44.79 1933.29

( per cent) 5.36 4.85 58.33


( per cent) 7.52 30.61 16.15

Tourism 3809.57 -- 282.25

( per cent) 74.12 -- 8.51

Departmetnal Catering 331.23 340.14 563.72

( per cent) 6.44 36.79 17.01

Total 5139.92 924.44 3314.64

( per cent) 100.00 100.00 100.00

Source: IRCTC, 2012

Net profit of IRCTC from tourism sector is shown in Table 5.9.

There has been declined in the net profit of IRCTC in 2011-12 as

compared to 2009-10. The net profit was found significant in internet

ticketing (35.72 per cent) and Departmental Catering (31.89 per cent)

during 2009-10 while during 2011-12, about 72 per cent share of net

profit was recorded in departmental catering only. Thus, there has been

fluctuating trend in generation of net profit from various sectors. The

share of tourism in net profit of IRCTC was recorded 1.20 per cent

during 2009-10 which increased significantly to 14.50 per cent during

2011-12.

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Table: 5.9

Net Profit of IRCTC from Tourism Sector

(Rs. Lakh)

Particular 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12


( per cent) 27.40 6.85

Rail Neer 889.05 272.52 81.78

( per cent) 3.79 0.59


( per cent) 35.72 80.75

Tourism 281.20 621.90 1082.61

( per cent) 1.20 7.87


( per cent) 31.89 38.99

Total 23447.70 23729.88 13747.32

( per cent) 100.00 100.00 100.00

Source: IRCTC, 2012

Tourism plan of IRCTC for the year 2008-09 to 2014-15 is shown

in Table 5.10. The overall budget allocation for tourism promotion has

shown phenomenon growth. The budget allocation was reported

Rs. 29.3 crore in 2008-09 which is likely to increase Rs. 710 crore

during 2014-15. The highest growth is likely to be in Rail Tour

Packages, and Charter Trains/Coaches.

Table: 5.10

Segment-wise Tourism Plan of IRCTC

(In Rs. Crore)

Year/Service 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2014-15

Rail Tour Packages 7.4 10.1 28.2 200

Land packages 2.6 3.5 8.5 60

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Charter Train/Coach 6.9 9.4 22.5 160

Hill Charter 0.1 0.1 0.7 5

Bharat Darshan 5.2 7.1 7.0 50

Buddhist Special 1.3 1.8 2.8 20

FIT/GIT 0 0 2.8 20

Hotel / Misc. 0.5 0.7 7.3 52

Budget Hotels 0 0.0 0

Educational Tours 5.3 7.2 9.6 68

Luxury Train 0 0 10.6 75

Total 29.3 40 100 710

Source: IRCTC.

As per projection of CRISIL, tourism investment by IRCTC is likely to

increase manifold during the year 2010-11 as against the year of 2008-

09. The conservative estimate of tourism investment if IRCTC was

reported Rs. 1141 crore during 2010-11 while the optimistic projection

shows that the investment in tourism would have Rs. 2528 crore during

2010-11 (Table 5.11).

Table: 5.11

Investment in Tourism by IRCTC

(In Rs. Crore)

Year/Service Conservative Scenario Optimistic Scenario

2008-09 2010-11 2008-09 2010-11

Rail Tour Packages 7.4 288.2 7.4 638.5

Land packages 2.6 101.2 2.6 224.3

Charter Train/Coach 6.9 268.7 6.9 595.3

Hill Charter 0.1 3.9 0.1 8.6

Bharat Darshan 5.2 202.5 5.2 448.7

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Buddhist Special 1.3 50.6 1.3 112.2

FIT/GIT 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Hotel / Misc. 0.5 19.5 0.5 43.1

Budget Hotels 0.0 0.0

Educational Tours 5.3 206.4 5.3 457.3

Luxury Train 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Total 29.3 1141.0 29.3 2528.0

Source: CRISIL.

Operational Performance:

Catering & Hospitality:

Mobile & Static units including Food Plaza, FFUs & NRC units

With the complete transfer of licensee units and partial transfer of

departmental units to Railways, the Corporation is left with 39 mobile

units (including 23 Duronto), 4 Base Kitchens, 14 Jan Aaharas and 10

Refreshment Rooms etc. In respect of Static Catering, few residual

departmental and licensee operated units are still with IRCTC which are

in process of getting transferred to Zonal Railways. The Corporation has

added 12 more Food plazas/ Fast food units, taking the total to 97.

Under non railway segment, 30 units were opened during the year at

various places taking the total number of such units to 39.

Central Kitchen:

During the year, the Corporation opened a Central Kitchen (food

factory), in Noida. The Kitchen has capacity to produce 10000 meals

per day in the first phase with provision to produce 25000 meals per day

in the 2nd phase. It is fully equipped with state of the art equipments

from India and abroad. Both veg and non-veg meals are being prepared

for supply to Railways and Corporate clients. Presently, Central Kitchen

is supplying evening snacks to all Departmental Rajdhani trains and

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also serving meals to corpora Executive Lounge. During the year, the

Corporation has undertaken setting up of “Executive Lounge” at New

Delhi Railway station to provide pre-departure and post-arrival comforts

to Railway passengers, on the lines of lounges at airports, as a pilot

project. This is a new business area and such lounges are proposed to

be set up at 50 stations.

Rail Neer:

On 11th July 2011, a new Rail Neer plant at Palur in Tamilnadu

became operational. The plant is designed to make 1.8 lacs bottles per

day on three shift basis. During the year from July onwards, the

production at Plant has reached a level of 0.88 lacs bottles per day by

March 2012 with working on two shift basis. The production at other Rail

Neer plants i.e Nangloi and Danapur were 3.34 crores and 3.24 crores

bottles respectively during the year as against installed capacity of 3.34

crores bottles at each plant.

Travel & Tourism:

The Corporation is offering complete Travel services to Corporate

which include air ticketing, booking of domestic as well as international

hotels, car rental, passport and visa facilitation, insurance & forex. In the

year 2011-12, to facilitate large number of Government offices, all Zonal

offices have also started the Corporate Travel Services. During the

year, the Corporation launched a budget train for the convenience of

Buddhist Pilgrims from Sri Lanka. This is a non-AC train from Chennai

for the Buddhist Circuit with 15 and 21 days itineraries. During the year

2011-12, the train conducted 3 trips. The Corporation has taken over

the entire operations and marketing of Luxury Train “Maharajas’

Express” w.e.f. 8th January 2012. The response from the market has

been very encouraging. In addition to operation of Charter on various

Hill Railway sections, the Corporation has introduced a Heritage Toy

Train utilizing the Saloon Type Coaches on the Kalka-Shimla Railway.

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During the period February to April 2012, 14 trips were successfully run.

Further, the Corporation started FIT & Inbound travel service during the

year. Travel and tour related arrangements were done for a group of

800 Chinese delegates and 300 other foreign students.

Internet Ticketing:

During the year 2011-2012, the Internet ticketing segment has

continued to be a driving force for the Corporation. Number of tickets

booked through IRCTC website https:www.irctc.co.in during the year

has gone up to 11.61 crore as against 9.69 crore tickets booked

previous year. Almost 45-50 per cent of total reserved tickets of Indian

Railways are being booked through this site. To extend its reach to

customer, the Corporation has launched the website

https:www.irctc.co.in/mobile for ticketing through mobile phones.

Business Performance:

Main Business Segments/Activities of the Corporation are:

I - Catering & Hospitality, II- Internet Ticketing, III- Travel &Tourism, IV-

Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer).

Catering & Hospitality:

Licensee catering business generated an income of `30.38 crore

in the year 2011-12 as compared to `316.26 crore in the year 2010-11.

The decline in income of the segment is due to transfer of licensee

catering business to Railways on implementation of Catering Policy,

2010. The departmental catering business generated an income of

`197.64 crore in the year 2011-12 as compared to `198.58 crore in the

year 2010-11. The NRC units contributed ` 10.79 crore to the total

revenue in the year 2011-12 as compared to the `6.64 crore in the year

2010-11. The loss of departmental catering during the year 2011-12 has

come down to `53.59 crore from `55.47 crore during the year 2010-11 in

spite of high inflation rate in food products and no increase in sales

185

prices. With the complete transfer of licensee units and partial transfer

of departmental units, Corporation is left with 39 mobile units (including

23 Duronto), 4 Base Kitchens, 14 Jan Aaharas and 10 Refreshment

Rooms etc.

(i) Mobile Catering: IRCTC is providing catering in all newly

introduced Duronto Trains. 39 mobiles units are under the management

of IRCTC. Ministry of Railways has directed to continue to manage

Duronto trains including newly introduced Durontos.

(ii) Static Catering: In respect of Static Catering, the licensee

Catering units have been transferred and only 33 licensee operated

units are with IRCTC which will also get transferred to Zonal Railways.

As regards Departmental Units, 239 units continue to be with IRCTC, to

be transferred later in phases.

(iii) Book Stalls: Ministry of Railways vide letter dated 28.03.12

has decided that all book stalls will now be managed by Zonal Railways

instead of IRCTC. The Corporation is in process to transfer the book

stalls to Zonal Railways in line with the decision of Ministry of Railways.

(iv) Executive Lounges: In the month of September 2011,

Ministry of Railways has directed IRCTC to undertake setting up of

"Executive Lounges" at Railway stations to provide pre-departure and

post-arrival comforts to Railway passengers, on the lines of lounges at

airports and has approved 50 locations on Indian Railways network to

provide the facility of "Executive Lounge". In line with the above

directives, IRCTC has taken up setting up and management of

Executive Lounge at New Delhi station as a pilot project which is likely

to be commissioned in 2012-13. Ministry has also approved 50

locations on Indian Railways network to provide the facility of "Executive

Lounge" at stations.

186

(v) Central Kitchen: During the year, the Corporation opened a

State of Art Central Kitchen (food factory), in Noida. In the month of

August-2011, the production of dry snacks such as assorted Sandwich

was started in Noida.

(vi) Non-Railway Catering: The Corporation has diversified into

related areas like - Facility Management, Food Parks, Budget Hotels,

Motels, Hospitality Hubs, Hospitality institutes etc. by harnessing the

existing capabilities. Corporation is also exploring the field of

commercial catering at Malls, Business Centres, and Institutional

Catering etc. 30 nos. of NRC units were added in 2011-12, taking the

total number of NRC units to 39.

The following are the main sub-segments of the Non-Railway

Catering areas: (a) Catering : Institutional Catering , Office Catering,

Events Catering and management, Industries Catering, Highway

Catering, Sports Catering, Metro Catering. (b) Facility Management:

Housekeeping Services, Front Office Management, Laundry Services,

Security Services, Horticultures Services, Pantry Support Services,

Maintenance and other related services. (c) Management of Hotels &

Guest Houses: Provision of Catering Services (Cafeteria and Room

Services), Provision of House-keeping services, Laundry Services,

Security Services, Horticulture, Maintenance and other related services.

During the year 2011-12, Corporation has signed MoUs with

following institutions /organizations for providing Catering/Facility

Management Services such as: (a) Writers Building, Kolkata (b) Bhabha

Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (c) Info Park, Cochin (d) IIM, Indore

(e) District Court, Bhopal (f) Postal Training Centre, Vadodara (g) Bhilai

Steel Plant, Bhilai (h) NIFTEM, Kundli, Sonepat (i) Chandra Shekhar

Azad University, Kanpur (j) Rourkela Steel Plant, Orissa.

(vii) Budget Hotels: IRCTC having experience in managing

Budget Hotels/Rail Yatri Niwases has approached State Tourism Board

187

and State Industrial Corporation such as Punjab, Haryana,

Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. to provide

space for setting up of Budget Hotels. Proposals from Kerala and West

Bengal Governments are in advance stages and likely to be finalized in

2012-13.

(viii) Quality Control Systems: IRCTC stringently adheres to

HACCP/ISO 22000 and quality standards with the best in-house

laboratory and R&D Center.

Monitoring for HACCP Compliance: Senior officers having

professional experience of providing catering services, and completed

Lead Auditor Course were entrusted to monitor various Food

Production Points to assure HACCP compliance.

Monitoring System: Food and services quality is being assessed

through third party professional agencies. During the year 2011-12,

Duronto/Rajdhani trains as well as Food Plazas and Fast Food Units

were covered under Customer Satisfaction Survey. The exercise was

conducted twice, inQ2 and Q4 for 18 Duronto and 6 Rajdhani trains.

The results of Q4 have shown an improvement of 3-5 per cent in the

case of Durontos /Rajdhani Expresses. In view of the progressive

handing over of Catering units, limited customer satisfaction surveys

were conducted in the previous year 2010-11. Also, Customer

Satisfaction Surveys have been initiated in Food Plazas/Fast Food

Units from year 2011-12. In the first phase, 89 such units were covered,

out of which 33 units performed above 85 per cent. For the remaining

units, another round was conducted in Q4, after taking corrective

actions which resulted in improvement of more than 90 per cent as the

Q4 survey reports, showed 64 units performed above 85 per cent.

188

Food Safety Audit

Keeping in view the impact of food safety on public health, food

safety audit is being conducted in IRCTC by third party agencies.

During year 2011-12, 16 trains and 100 Food Plazas/FFUs were taken

for conducting such audits. The performance in case of trains has been

75 per cent and in case of Static units 70 per cent which is above the

target of 60 per cent. Food Safety and Hygiene audits of Non-Railway

Catering units were also taken up in 2011-12 for the first time. A total of

10 units were covered and performance levels achieved were assessed

to be above 70 per cent.

ISO Certification

Quality of catering services has been enhanced through various

quality measures including ISO certification. During the year 2011-12,

23 food plazas/fast food units were ISO certified taking the total number

to 52. For the year 2012-13, target of ISO certification for additional 12

such units has been fixed.

Round the Clock Control Monitoring

In order to monitor the quality of catering services, Central Control

has been set up at New Delhi which is fully equipped with Phone, Fax,

PC with broadband connectivity and scanner for easy accessibility to

passengers. National Toll Free number has been provided. The central

control is operative round the clock. In addition, all the Zonal Offices

also have Zonal control offices to monitor the quality of catering

services. The control offices monitor catering operations and handle

complaints telephonically on the spot to the satisfaction of complaint. In

case of any abnormally of train operation, control offices inform all

concerned service providers for making provision of catering services

so as to avoid any public inconvenience.

189

Complaint Monitoring and Action Taken

During year 2011-12, 780 complaints were received from train

passengers as against 1283 complaints during previous year 2010-11

thereby bringing the number of complaints down by 39 per cent. Areas

where complaints have reduced are Services, Quality, Hygiene, Staff

behavior and Quantity of food served. Preventive and punitive actions

have been taken based on the nature and seriousness of the complaint.

All the complaints were addressed and methods such as penalizing

licensees, D&AR action against staff, counseling and warning have

been adopted at appropriate levels. Setting up of Internal Food testing

and Hygiene lab at Central Kitchen, Noida During the year, 2011-12, an

internal food testing lab was also set up in Central Kitchen, Noida. The

microbiological tests for the cooked food, raw material as well as

equipment/utensils and hand swabs are conducted regularly in lab to

ensure the highest possible hygiene standards in food being supplied

from kitchen.

Internet Ticketing:

E-ticketing has been one of the biggest success stories of

e-governance in India and has revolutionized the way the common man

deals with the railway. It has resulted in great benefits in terms of

convenience, time & energy saving as well as transparency. The rapid

growth in E-ticketing has been possible not only because of the ease of

the entire process for the customers but also due to a very robust

process set up for doing e-reservation which facilitates bookings using

all types of credit cards, most major debit cards, cash cards facility, Net

Banking facility and five major payment gateways. This is also

strengthened by an online refund process. The common man, not

having computer / net access, is also able to get the e-tickets through

various agent outlets (approx. 1.3 lakh) across 500 cities & towns. To

further help the individual passengers, the online process of booking

190

during 8 to 10AM (the crucial booking hours) was restricted during the

year only for direct passengers by prohibiting agent bookings. The

Tatkal ticket booking timings have been shifted to 10AM to 12 AM w.e.f.

10.7.2012. Several drives were also launched during the year so as to

curb unauthorized practices in E-ticket bookings by unscrupulous

people. The system of registration has been further strengthened. The

IT Anti Fraud Cell monitors booking on regular basis to detect any

malpractices. Further, efforts are made for continuous upgradation of

the site and ensuring highest level of security.

Internet Ticketing services continue to go from strength to

strength. It is handling over 40 per cent of the reserved train

accommodation of Indian Railways. Recently we achieved a record of

almost 5 Lakhs tickets in a single day. The value of tickets booked has

gone up to Rs. 9,646 crore during the year 2011-12 as against Rs.

8,007 crore during the previous year. Number of tickets booked (both E

and I tickets) through IRCTC website during the year 2011-12 has gone

up to Rs. 11.61 crore tickets (20.99 crore passengers) as against Rs.

9.69 crore tickets (Rs. 17.42 crore passengers) booked during 2010-11.

The booking of railway tickets through internet is available from

00:30 Hrs to 23:30 Hrs 365 days a year. IRCTC is in the process of

further enhancement of the existing infrastructure to further improve

services to the customers. IRCTC ticketing website continues to be

considered a benchmark in the e-commerce industry. The numbers of

transactions on the website are among the highest on the Asian

Continent. IRCTC is now looking at adopting technologies of the future

to keep up with the changing technological environment. Ticketing

through mobile is one such measure taken up during the year.

Mobile Booking

Keeping in view the large number of mobile users in the country

and the huge potential of this medium, IRCTC has launched the website

191

https://www.irctc.co.in/mobile for ticketing through mobile phones.

IRCTC mobile website is convenient and easy to use, can be accessed

from any browser enabled mobile having basic GPRS activated on

phone. At present about 1000 tickets per day are booked through

mobile. There is huge potential of growth of mobile commerce in next

few years. IRCTC is working aggressively towards evolving platform for

booking through various technologies using mobiles viz. IVRS, SMS,

USSD, mobile applications etc.

Rail Sampark

IRCTC manages the enquiry services of Indian Railways known

as Rail Sampark 139 (Integrated Train Enquiry System of Indian

Railways) on PPP basis. In 2011-12, 23.50 crore voice calls and 6.27

crore SMS were handled as compared to 24.68 crore voice calls and

2.65 crore SMS in 2010-11.

Travel & Tourism

IRCTC offers a wide range of Travel & Tourism products and

services to meet the requirements of different segments of tourists.

These include Bharat Darshan tourist trains, Bharat Tirth trains,

Educational Tours, Mahaparinirvan Express - Buddhist Circuit Special

Train, Dambadiva Vandana (Non-AC Buddhist Circuit Train ex-

Chennai), Rail and Land Tour Packages, Chartered Trains & Coaches,

Hill Charters, Luxury Tourist Train, Cab Rental Services, On-line hotel

booking services, Online Air ticketing and Corporate Travel Services. In

2011-12, Corporation has also taken on the full operation and

management of the Maharajas' Express. Travel & Tourism Business

generated an income of Rs. 98.95 crore in the year 2011-12 as

compared to Rs. 67.04 crore in the year 2010-11 recording a growth of

47.6 per cent. The business further increased to Rs 98.95 crores during

2011-12.

192

Bharat Darshan Tourist Train (Village on Wheels)

IRCTC operates Bharat Darshan tourist trains for the budget

segment where the traveler gets to see India at a price of `500/- a day

including rail travel, road travel, meals, sightseeing, accommodation

and insurance. These are highly popular trips operating at peak

occupancies. 63 Bharat Darshan trips were operated across the country

during the year 2011-12 as against 60 trips during the previous year.

Mahaparinirvan Express - Buddhist Circuit Special Train The

Mahaparinirvan Express offers a 7 Nights / 8 Days all inclusive tour

covering various destinations of the Buddhist Circuit with the objective

of providing a safe, comfortable and reliable tour package for

international as well as domestic travelers on this circuit. So far, visitors

from more than 30 countries have travelled on the train and rated its

services as excellent. During the year 2011-12, a number of additional

amenities and facilities have been provided on the train and it has been

got ISO certified. The Railways conducted 57 trips with 22621

passengers during 2009-10 while during 2010-11 Railways conducted

60 trips with 23636 passengers.

Dambadiva Vandana (Buddhist Train ex- Chennai)

During the year, IRCTC launched a budget train for the

convenience of Buddhist Pilgrims from Sri Lanka. This met a long

pending demand which had come up in the Indo-Sri Lankan bilateral

talks also. This is a non-AC train from Chennai for the Buddhist Circuit

covering Chennai- Sanchi- Sarnath- Vaishali -Bodhgaya- Rajgir-

Nalanda- Kushinagar- Lumbini - Sravasti - Sankasia-Agra- Delhi-

Chennai over 15 and 21 days itineraries. During the year 2011-12, 3

trips were conducted.

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Tour Packages

IRCTC operates all inclusive Rail Tour Packages across the

country, which include confirmed rail travel, road transfers,

accommodation, meals and sight-seeing at reasonable rates.

Operations of the tours were further strengthened and streamlined.

Special packages for persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) were also

launched in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of

Overseas Indian Affairs. During 2009-10, Railways provided tour

packages to 23258 passengers while in 2010-11, 49308 passengers

were provided tour packages.

Educational Tours

IRCTC operated educational tours for students under its "travel to

learn" scheme and has tied up with the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan

and various State Governments as well as private schools for operating

educational tours for children. In addition to this, Local day tours were

also launched for students. Tours 10 under Sarva Sikhsha Abhyan

(SSA) were extended to Kerala & Puducherry. Corporation introduced

tours under Rashtriya Madhyamik, SikshaAbhiyan (RMSA) from

Guwahati. During 2009-10, 12729 students were provided educational

tours which increased to 20441 during 2010-11.

Corporate Travel

IRCTC is offering complete Travel services to Corporates which

include air ticketing, booking of domestic as well as international hotels,

car rental, passport and visa facilitation, insurance & forex. In the year

2011-12, the Corporate Travel Services has started from all Zonal

offices to facilitate large number of Government offices.

Tourism Portal

IRCTC's tourism portal, www.railtourismindia.com, is a One Stop

Travel Shop. The portal, which won the National Tourism Award in the

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year 2008, has become popular among the travelers and offers various

Travel and Tourism services such as on-line booking of tourist trains,

tour packages, hotels, car rental, air tickets as well as Luxury tourist

trains. During 2011-12, a number of new packages, packages for PIOs

etc. have been launched on IRCTC's Tourism Portal. Tie up was also

finalized with a leading GDS for direct provision of air bookings by

IRCTC.

IRCTC Luxury Train

IRCTC owns a top end super Luxury Train which was launched

under the name of Maharajas' Express in March, 2010. Despite making

all efforts to ensure proper management of the train and fair and

transparent functioning of the JV set up to manage the train, IRCTC

was forced to terminate the JV agreement and take over direct

operation of the train, to safe guard its interests. This action of IRCTC

was challenged by Cox & Kings in the High Court as well as in the

Supreme Court to seek interim orders. Both the Hon'ble Courts decided

in favour of IRCTC and vindicated IRCTC's stand and acts. In terms of

the Court orders, IRCTC is looking after the entire operation of the train

from January 2012. A number of improvement & changes in itineraries,

pricing, agent policy has been done which were necessary to improve

the customer experience and to make the train financially viable as also

bring about transparency in dealings with affiliates. These steps by

IRCTC have been very well received in the market. In the year 2011-12,

the train operated 31 trips as compared to 28 trips in the previous year.

From January onwards the train has been independently operated by

IRCTC where 14 journeys were successfully completed upto April 2012.

Hill Charter

In addition to operation of Charter on various Hill Railway

sections, IRCTC has introduced a Heritage Toy Train utilizing the

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Saloon Type Coaches on the Kalka-Shimla Railway. During 2010-11,

Railways conducted 80 Hill Charters.

FIT/ Inbound travel services

IRCTC has started the FIT & inbound travel services in the year

2011-12. IRCTC has organized travel and other tour related

arrangements for a group of 800 Chinese delegates. Tours were

organized for 300 foreign students as part of study exchange

programmes.

Bharat Tirth

Two special Bharat Tirth trips were operated over 2011-12

comprising special pilgrimage itineraries. During 2010-11, 4 trips with

1443 passengers were carried out by Railways.

Packaged Drinking Water (Railneer)

During the year 2011-2012, a new Packaged Drinking Water

Plant with installed capacity of 1.8 lac bottles/ day has been

commissioned at Palur (Chennai) and has become operational since

July 2011. The production of Rail Neer at Nangloi and Danapur plants

were 3.34 crores and 3.24 crores bottles respectively as against

installed capacity of 3.34 crores bottles at each plant. The production of

new plant Palur was 1.76 Crore bottles as against installed capacity of

2.45 crores bottles. Turnover for the segment for the year 2011- 12 was

Rs. 45.03 crore, which did not include intersegment sale amounting to

Rs. 13.05 crore. Rail Neer produced at Nangloi is distributed on mobile

trains and to static catering units primarily in Delhi area and other states

such as Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, West U.P. and Rajasthan. In

addition, supply is also made to Parliament House, PMO, Railway

Board and Ministry of External Affairs etc. Rail Neer produced at newly

commissioned plant at Palur is distributed on trains starting from two

metro cities in South India viz. Chennai and Bangalore. Further it is

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distributed to states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and to

some parts of Kerala. Rail Neer produced at Danapur is distributed to

states of Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, East U.P., Assam and Orissa.

Rail Neer Plant, Danapur is already complying ISO: 9001- 2008 quality

management system certification. Rail Neer Plant, Nangloi has also got

certified during the year 2011-12. Rail Neer Plant, Palur is in the

process of getting ISO: 9001:2008 and likely to get certification in the

year 2012-13. The result of the test, carried out by accredited

laboratories on Rail Neer Packaged Drinking Water indicates that the

quality of Rail Neer conforms to European Economic Community (EEC)

norms for pesticide residue.

Sustainable Business Development:

Sustainable development is a difficult balancing act in countries

especially with low incomes. Society has to simultaneously accomplish

three things with trade-offs: improve economic well-being with social

justice for the present generation, yet manage with more restrained use

of land, air, forest, energy and water resources, and protect the

interests of future generations. The choices are more difficult in

developing countries-because they affect people's livelihoods. For such

a 'stewardship' to succeed, it has to respond to people's needs, share

information on choices and costs, and ensure participation and

ownership. The growing challenges of sustainable development and

climate change need to be addressed. Pressures on land, air, water,

forests and loss of plant and animal habitat are growing. At the same

time, a warming planet is already causing adverse effects, such as

more frequent extreme weather events. The science and evidence of

climate change are compelling. Both India and the world are reviewing

the challenges ahead.

IRCTC has undertaken the following measures for ensuring

sustainable business development:

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Utilization of solar energy at Base Kitchens and Refreshment

Rooms.

Collection and disposal of used Rail Neer Bottles to prevent its

misuse.

Rainwater harvesting at Rail Neer plants to preserve the ground

water level.

Steps have been initiated for installation of Zero liquid discharge

system in Nangloi Rail Neer plant.

Tree plantation at Rail Neer plants.

Installation of environment friendly CDTS toilets in the Buddhist

Circuit Special Train as well as the Maharajas' Express.

Introduced Induction Cooking System to minimize fire hazards in

Railway premises and to reduce electricity consumption.

Safe discharge of waste water in Solar Pits to recharge the water

table in the earth and correcting ecological balances.

Using environment friendly products for packaging of food items

and serving of beverages.

Food and Safety audits for minimizing health hazard.

The role of IRCTC in tourism development in India has been

found to be highly significant. IRCTC has changed the brand image of

Indian Railways through providing e-ticketing, web-based information

related to trains, launching of special trains and coaches for

international and domestic tourists as well as providing catering

services. The production and distribution of Rail Neer has also created

a brand image of Indian Railways as the bottle of drinking water is cost

effective besides providing educational tours to the students and

scholars by IRCTC has promoted rail tourism in India to the greater

extent.

Chapter: 5 IRCTC Structure, Functions and Role -...

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