PROJECT REPORT

ON
TOURISM PRODUCTS OF IRCTC

AT
INDIAN RAILWAY CATERING AND TOURISM CORPORATION
(IRCTC)
BY
ISHFAQ AH SHEIKH
ENROLLMENT NO-17122111018
IN THE GUDIANCE OF MR. GLADSTONE DAVID, DY MANAGER
(CATERING SERVICES)

BATCH 2017-2019
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled ‘’ TOURISM PRODUCTS OF

IRCTC’’ has been pen-locked by me during my winter Internship
Programme at IRCTC New Delhi’’, under the supervision of Mr. Gladstone
David. DY GENERAL MANAGER (CATERING SERVICES) IRCTC, in partial
fulfilment for the degree of the MTTM from university of Kashmir.

I also declare that this project report is the result of my own effort and
has not been submitted to my other university or organization before.

ISHFAQ AH SHEIKH

ENROLLEMNENT 17122111018

PLACE NEW DELHI

DATE 05TH MARCH 2019

 CERTIFICATE

This is certify that “, ISHFAQ AH SHEIKH’’ the student of Department of

Management Studies has carried out a project entitled “TOURISM
PRODUCTS OF IRCTC’’

This has been performed in partial fulfilment of his masters Degree in

Travel and Tourism management (MTTM) from university of Kashmir. The
project finds less scope duplication and plagiarism and has not been
submitted for award of any degree, diploma or course in any university or
institute. The study has been completed within the time schedule as
prescribed under the University Statues.

We wish her all the success in the future endeavours.

GGM-HRD NEW DELHI

Mr. Surender Kumar

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance
and assistance from many people and I am extremely privileged to have
got this all along the completion of my project. All that I have done is only
due to such supervision and assistance and I would not forget to thank
them.

I respect and thank MR. GLADSTONE DAVID, DY GENERAL MANAGER

(CATERING SERVICES) IRCTC, who made this work possible. His friendly
guidance and expert advice have been Invaluable throughout all stages of
the work. I would also wish to express my gratitude to RAJESH KUMAR,
IRCTC GGM (TOURISM) for extended discussions and valuable suggestion
which have contributed greatly to the improvement of the training.

I am thankful to and fortunate enough to get constant encouragement,

support and guidance from all teaching staffs of [Department of
management studies] which helped us in successfully completing our
project work. Also, I would like to extend sincere esteems to all staff in
laboratory for their timely support.
ISHFAQ AH SHEIKH
 CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Objectives of study
Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The company profile

Chapter 3: Literature review

Chapter 4: Research methodology

CHAPTER 5: Data Analysis and Interpretation

References
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Indian Railway (IR) carries about 22.21 million passengers per day. Passenger traffic of this
magnitude needs the services of a well-managed catering and vending system for supply of healthy
and wholesome food at reasonable prices. The catering services are provided by IR departmentally,
through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and by engaging outside
agencies at stations and in trains. Audit was carried out to assess the adequacy and availability of
good quality and hygienic food to railway passengers at affordable rates.

Audit also assessed the management of contracts awarded for providing catering services at
stations and in trains for ensuring good quality catering services. The audit examination covered
the period from 2013-14 to 2015-16.

Frequent change in catering policy and consequent transfer of responsibility to manage catering
units from railways to IRCTC and back, have created a state of uncertainty in management of
catering services provided to the passengers over the years. As the quality of catering services was
not enhanced as expected, Railway Board has formulated a new Catering Policy 2017, which has
been issued on 27 February 2017.As per the new policy, a number of catering activities which were
assigned to IRCTC in 2005 policy and then transferred to Zonal Railways in 2010 policy, have now
been assigned back to IRCTC. However, the concerns of quality, hygiene, affordability and
availability of food to passengers as identified in this Report are needed to be adequately
addressed.

The policy of progressive switch over from gas burners to electric power equipment in pantry cars
was not followed while manufacturing the pantry cars in Integral Coach Factory, Perambur.

Requirement of catering facilities on stations and trains were not assessed comprehensively for
each station in the form of Master Plans (Blue Prints) by all Zonal Railways. A large number of base
kitchens were located outside the railway premises, not subjected to quality checks and thus, did
not provide an assurance for quality, hygiene and cleanliness. In the new Catering Policy 2017, the
responsibility of setting up and operation of base kitchens has been given to IRCTC. Though a time
frame has been fixed for the whole process of setting up of base kitchens and responsibility of
Zonal Railways and IRCTC has been defined, penalty has been prescribed only for delay on part of
IRCTC after handing over of site by the Zonal Railways to IRCTC. As such, accountability of Zonal
Railways to carry forward the new Catering Policy of 2017 needed to be clearly demarcated

Zonal Railways did not ensure provision of pantry cars in a number of long distance trains.
Alternative services through train side vending and/or base kitchens were also not provided in
some of the trains checked in audit. Audit observed that the availability of Janta meals on stations
was also not adequate. As the new Catering Policy has transferred the responsibility of
management of Jan Ahaars to IRCTC, Railways need to ensure that adequate numbers of low cost
Janta Meals are provided by IRCTC to passengers. Continued presence of hawkers and sale of
unauthorized food on trains also indicated that the catering services provided on trains were not
adequate. Audit inspected units including static and mobile units managed both by Zonal Railways
as well as by IRCTC – departmentally or through licensees, at selected stations and trains jointly
with railway personnel. It was seen that hygiene and cleanliness in respect of the food served was
not ensured by the railways on stations and in trains. Unfair practices were being followed in
execution of catering services at stations and trains. These deficiencies indicated that the
contractors compromised on value for money in respect of food items served to passengers and
action taken by Railway Administration for the deviation from the quality standards was not
effective.

Important Audit findings

Due to frequent policy changes, IR could not take effective steps to bridge the gap to provide
necessary infrastructure in terms of base kitchens, Static Catering Units, Trains Side Vending
arrangements and Automatic Vending Machines etc. (Para
2.2)

Zonal Railways were required to prepare a Master Plan (Blue Print) of catering services to be
provided at each station and onboard trains. Blue Print for provision of catering services was not
prepared in seven Zonal Railways(ECR, ER, NFR, NWR, SER, SWR and ECOR). (Para
2.3)

Gas burners were to be progressively switched over to electric power equipment in pantry cars in
trains as per policy. However, ICF manufactured 103 pantry cars during April 2011 to March 2016
with provision for centralized LPG cylinders, which were distributed to Zonal Railways. (Para
2.4.1)

Zonal Railways did not ensure provision of pantry cars in a number of long distance trains. During
joint inspection, it was seen that in nine trains having a run of more than 24 hours, no pantry car
was provided. No Train Side Vending Services were provided by NCR, SECR and SR for the trains
which run for more than 12 hours during the day time. (Paras3.1and
3.6)

Base kitchens were to be set up in railway premises to monitor and control the quality and
hygiene of food served in trains. However, only 16base kitchens were located in railway premises.
115 base kitchens were located outside the railway premises and were not subjected to quality
check. In respect of 128 trains of seven Zonal Railways, meals were picked up from outside base
kitchens. (Para
3.2)
Railway Board instructed (January 2012)Zonal Railways to make efforts to improve the
sale/availability of Janta meals so as to provide good quality food at affordable price to railway
passengers. However, out of 74stations where joint inspections were conducted by Audit, Jan
Aahar units were not provided on 46stations.Shareof Janta meals sold to the overall meals sold in
six Zonal Railways was declining in the last three years. (Para
3.7)

During joint inspections of selected trains, audit observed a number of unauthorized vendors on
platforms and trains. During 2013-14 to 2015-16, 2,39,096 cases were prosecuted by Railway
Protection Force and fine imposed in eight Zonal Railways. (Para
3.9)

Audit checked 124contracts awarded by eight Zonal Railways and observed that a major portion
of contract value was paid as license fee to Zonal Railways, leaving a small margin of the contract
value for the licensee for providing catering services. It may not be workable for the licensees to
cater to the needs of passengers within the available margin and may result in compromising the
quality, quantity and prices etc. (Para
4.1)

During the joint inspection of selected 74stations and 80 trains over Zonal Railways, Audit noticed
that

O Cleanliness and hygiene were not being maintained at catering units at stations and in trains.
Unpurified water straight from tap was used in preparation of beverages, waste bins were not
found covered, not emptied regularly and not washed, food stuff were not covered to protect
them from flies, insects and dust, rats and cockroaches were found in trains etc.

O Unfair practices were being followed in execution of catering services at stations and to
remeains. Bills were not given for the food items served in mobile units in trains. Printed menu
cards with tariff for the list of food items sold in the mobile units were not available with waiters
and Catering Managers in trains. Food stuff served was less than the prescribed scheduled
quantity, unapproved packaged drinking water was sold, Proprietary Article Depot(PAD) items
were sold at the railway stations at maximum retail price (MRP) with weight and prices different
from the open market and per unit price of food articles sold in railway premises is significantly
higher.

O Deficiencies in respect of quality of food served were noticed. Articles unsuitable for human
consumption, contaminated foodstuff, recycled foodstuff, shelf life expired packaged and bottled
items, unauthorized brands of water bottles, etc., were offered for sale on stations.(Paras5.1 to
5.3)

Audit observed that though a complaint redressal system has been put in place, there is no
reduction in the number of complaints over the years. It was also seen that the major share of
complaints pertained to overcharging and quality issues. (Para 5.5)

IRCTC has customised ERP ( Oracle 11i ) that serves the organization in 4 different areas i.e.-

 HRMS and payroll- The oracle Human Resource Management Systems ( HRMS ) helps to
achieve a well-managed human resource system, turning HR management into a strategic
advantage. HRMS is an e- business way of transforming the people management role with
Internet technology.
 Accounts Receivable- Oracle Receivables provides three integrated workbenches that you
can use to perform most of your day-to-day Accounts Receivable Operations
 You can use the Receipts Workbench to perform most of your receipt-related tasks. For
example, to create receipt batches and enter, apply, reverse, reapply and delete individual
receipts. You can also use this workbench to create chargeback and adjustments.
  The Transactions Workbench is used to create new update existing invoices, debit memos,
credit memos, on- account credits, chargeback, and adjustments. This Workbench can also
be used to enter, review, or complete transactions, copy invoices, create adjustments,
credit transactions and review invoices installments.
 The collections Workbench lets you review customer accounts and perform collection
activities, such as recording customer calls and printing dunning letters.

 Accounts Payable- Accounts Payables is a function for making payments. Anyone who
needs to be paid, an external vendor, internal employee or customer, will be defined as
supplier. Payables module interacts with other module, such as Purchasing for matching
invoices t purchase orders or receipts.

 General Ledger- Oracle General Ledger enables universal accounting data management
and is a comprehensive financial management solution that enhances financial controls,
data collection, information access, and financial reporting throughout the enterprise.
General organization and also what could be the possible drawbacks. However at the end
its benefits overcasts all its drawbacks.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of Services Marketing at IRCTC.
In the light of this primary objective, the following sub-objectives are set.

 To review the historical aspects of IRCTC and its growth.

 To know the position of the E-Commerce industry as a whole in the world as well as in
INDIA. To identify the service and technology needed in IRCTC.

 To assess the purpose and uses of effective service and technology.

 To study and analyze the further steps to be taken after doing the necessary analysis of
IRCTC.

 To evaluate various techniques or operations followed in this regard.

 To know how mutuality it will increase and strengthen the relationship between each
employee and customers.

 To know the commitment of the employees towards the organization with the Company’s
policies.

INTRODUCTION
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU)
under the Ministry of Railways. During 1999, in the context of reduced budgetary support and high
cost of market borrowings, Indian Railways (IR) explored ways and means of maximising revenues,
mobilising resources, reducing subsidies and stimulating private participation and investment in
rail related infrastructure and services through various options including organisational
restructuring and corporatisation. The need to commercialise and corporatize railway catering and
tourism related business as a profit centre and cost centre was acknowledged as running of
passenger services and allied amenities such as catering, hospitality etc., which had inbuilt
subsidies by way of low tariffs, administered pricing, possible leakage of revenues and high
establishment costs, were an important part of Railway's business.

Further, International consultants and multilateral agencies had also recommended that Indian
Railways should corporatize and divest its catering and tourism related business in an independent
entity as part of wider organisational reform and restructuring. The same was accepted by the
Government and announced in the Parliament.

In this backdrop, 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. The Company obtained Certificate of Commencement of Business on
2nd December 1999. The authorised share capital of the Company is 50 crore and paid up share
capital is 20 crore, fully subscribed by Ministry of Railways, Government of India. The full-fledged
functioning of the Company started on 1st August 2001, after setting up the functional Board. The
registered and Corporate Office of IRCTC is at New Delhi.

The promotion and development of tourism in a country lies on the shoulders of many
stakeholders related to tourism, such as, government, travel agents, tour operators, hotel industry,
transport operators etc. Indian Railways being the prime transporter in India has a major role to
play in the promotion and development of tourism in the country. With its maiden run on April 16,
1853 on a 21 mile track between Bombay and Thana (now Thane), Indian Railways today reaches
out to every nook and comer of the country. Through 150 years of its service to the nation it
engineered social revolution, brought about national integration and transformed the economy.
Today with its vast network spread almost all over the country from snow caped mountains in the
North to the sunny sand-beaches marked by the Indian Ocean in the South; from the lush
evergreen and dense rain forests in the East to the vast, barren and golden sand-deserts in the
West. It annihilates distances and cuts across geographical barriers to enable the people to
intermix.

Indian Railways network is today the second largest railway network and the largest under single
management in the world. It carries more than 13 million passengers daily, on about 8.500
passenger trains with more than 40,000 passenger coaches, over more than 63,000 km of its route
network and connects about 7,000 railway stations across the length and breadth of the country).
 The inland transport sector in India is also represented by other major transportation modes, viz.
road, air and water. However, the rail transport in the country has an edge over the others in many
aspects. While the inland water transport in the country is almost non-existent, the scheduled air
transport is very limited in its expanse and capacity in comparison to the size and population of the
country. It is also very expensive, therefore accessible to only the high-income segment of the
population. The rail and road are the prime and major transportation modes in the country. While
the road transport is preferred over short distances and on short notice travel, due to flexibility in
its departures, the rail transport is preferred over medium and long distances. India being a large
sized country with widely dispersed tourist destinations; the rail transport becomes an obvious
choice for a majority of domestic and foreign tourists on budget.

Indian Railways has enormous tourism potential, not only in that it reaches out to places and has
some competitive edge over other means of transport but also in being almost a complete tourism
product in itself. Indian Railways has always been a fascinating subject for people. The heritage
acquired by it in the form of steam engines, old colonial railway stations, bungalows, unique
constructions, old locomotives, saloons, Ghats (river jetties) and tunnels, through 150 years of its
ser\'ice to the nation, bear an immense nostalgic appeal. The five hill-railways with breathtaking
views, chugging up the mountain slopes, hardly have any match in the world. Many of them still
run by steam engines evoke the memories of a bygone era. The special luxury tourist trains; such
as 'Palace on Wheels', 'Royal Orient' and 'Deccan Odyssey' etc.; have become the talk of the
international tourist circles. The unique heritage train, 'Fairy Queen", hauled by the world's oldest
locomotive in working order is a treat not only to the rail enthusiasts but also to all alike.

However, the Indian Railways by and large remained unresponsive to the needs and requirements
of the dynamic and growing tourism market. It generally treated tourists merely as passengers and
no distinction has ever bean made between a tourist and a normal traveller. Ever since the
independence of the country in 1947, various commissions and committees on tourism, time and
again, highlighted the role that the railway could play in the promotion of tourism in the country.
Unfortunately, till 1980s the railway authorities never took tourism seriously. Though this was
partly because the railway was overburdened with its social obligations and tourism was
considered as a luxury; the monopoly status, which the railway enjoyed also, helped it to get away
with neglecting the market realities. The realisation of immense tourism potential during 1980s
made the railway authorities to put some efforts in this direction and devise some strategies to
meet the requirements of this sector. Some itineraries for specific tourist circuits were designed
and some schemes and incentives were extended to the tourists travelling by Indian Railways.
Special tourist trains such as "Palace on Wheels' and 'Royal Orient' etc. were introduced. 'Palace on
Wheels" was first of its kind in the country introduced to promote foreign inbound tourism
particularly that from UK. The project was launched with the major objectives of promoting India
as a tourist destination abroad and generating the much-needed foreign exchange. From the very
beginning the "Palace on Wheels" received an overwhelming response from foreign tourists.
Though the 'Palace on Wheels' by and large succeeded in its objectives, other schemes and
incentives offered by Indian Railways to the tourists remained largely unutilized. This has been
mainly due to the in the absence of any distinction made between a tourist and a normal traveller
and the cumbersome and tedious procedures involved in availing these facilities. In such a
situation, therefore, the tourists instead preferred to not to avail these facilities.
However, during last little more than one decade, there has been a positive shift in the Indian
Railways' policy as it has now envisaged to induct professionalism into its system, to restructure
and to reform, and to diversify into the peripheral areas related to its core business of
transportation. The tourism promotion has been put high on the agenda and the railway is
committed towards bridging the symbolic hiatus with the sector. Apart from being facilitator of
tourist transport, it is now assuming the role of a tour operator, information bank and a hospitality
bureau. It is now all set to market itself with its long romantic history and heritage as a tourist
product.
Tourism business, however, calls for professional skills and a dynamic management structure that
has far more common with a corporate work culture than a government department. This
realisation, more recently, led Indian Railways to establish a separate railway tourism company
called Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) with the objectives of
consolidating the existing fragmented and unorganised rail tourism and catering services, and
promoting value added tour packages on Indian Railways network through increased private
participation. The establishment of this company has raised hopes for thr better future of rail-
based tourism in the country.
 Chapter 2
Literature Review
Baring a few exceptions, majority of the tourism texts are a product of the 1980s and 1990s. Most
of them have been written from developed world perspective and very few written from Asian or
less developed world perspective. An examination of these studies indicates that travel and
transport is a topic frequently cited in relation to its role as a facilitator of the expansion of
tourism. Yet these tourism studies do not have monopoly on the analysis of transportation for
tourists. On the other hand the studies on transportation indirectly discuss the movement of
tourists and the tourist is rarely mentioned in these studies as the term 'passenger' fails to
distinguish between the reasons for tourist movement. Thus at a micro level both transport and
tourism studies fail to provide an explicit and holistic framework in which to assess the
transportation of tourists.

A similar situation arises when an examination of studies pertaining to railways is carried out,
particularly that of Indian Railways. Most of the studies on Indian Railways deal with its history,
construction, administration, economics, engineering, signaling etc, and lack a concern for its
tourism aspect. Even the studies, which deal with the passenger transportation aspect of Indian
Railways, fail to distinguish between a passenger and a tourist. Nevertheless there are few works,
which directly focus on the tourism aspect of Indian Railways but these are more as travel guides
or travelogues and have less academic relevance. Thus the literature review with regard to the
present stud>' reveals that except for a very few books and scanty articles in newspapers and
journals or magazines, etc., very little work has been done, both at the organisational as well as
academic levels, with regard to the subject under stud}'. A review of these studies is given in the
foregoing paragraphs.
I. Jordan; et al[1989] through their study give intensive information about the various tourist
places in the country connected by Indian Railways network. With a brief about all do's and
don'ts on Indian Railways. The study goes on to give a comprehensive description of various
tourist spots in the country. The study is a very good pictographical representation of Indian
Railways and the sights it passes through. It is, however, more a guide for tourists on Indian
Railways than a work of any academic interest.
II. Ellis [1989, 1997] in his book, which is a guide-cum-text for rail enthusiasts focuses on
foreign tourists on Indian Railways. His study brings out. on the one hand, all the nuts and
holts advises on each facility on Indian Railways for tourists; and on the other hand, it
critically analyses nil these facilities and amenities for tourists on it. However, the study
does not suggest measures to improve these facilities.
III. Silas's [2001] work is perhaps the first of its kind brought out by any Indian author for the
cause of promoting rail-based tourism in the country. The work is. however merely a tourist
guide, aptly describing the various destinations in the country, facilities available and do's
and don'ts during a railway journey in India, etc. The work by the author fails to
comprehend the present or future scenario of rail-based tourism in the country and has
uncritically discussed the facilities and amenities for tourists on Indian Railways.
IV. Halder [2000] stresses on the railway to be commercial and customer oriented. His study
brings out information on almost all aspects related to both passenger and freight
operations of Indian Railways. He has in detail dealt with the subjects like passenger
amenities, ticketing procedures, reservation and refund rules and passenger grievances
etc.. but surprisingly, makes no mention of any tourist facility on Indian Railways.
 V. Sekhar [2002] through his work sheds light on the future challenges before Indian Railways.
He puts the commercial viability, customer orientation, marketing, diversification and
optimisation of activities to earn extra revenue through mobilisation of unconventional
resources, as key challenges before Indian Railways in future. The author makes some
significant suggestions with regard to freight transportation but ignores to suggest any
measures to overcome the challenges in passenger transportation.
VI. Bezbaruah [2000] makes a brief but much informative study of tourism potential of Indian
Railways. The study focuses on the promotion of Indian Railways heritage as a tourist
product. It has also been suggestive with regard to rail-based tourism promotion in the
country.
VII. Sinha [1998] studies different modes of transportation and their significance in tourism
development. He critically studies various aspects of different transportation modes and
their comparative strengths and weaknesses within the total tourism system. Though, the
study delves deep into the significance of transport in tourism, the various case studies
undertaken in the study relate to the developed countries, such as, USA and UK, but fails to
study the subject in the context of less developed and/or developing countries like India.
VIII. Bhandari [2002] in his study focuses on the historical development of Kalka-Shimla Railway
(KSR) and the changed travel scenario in this hilly region, in terms of time and com fort, by
introduction of this railway line. Although, the study mentions the efforts by KSR to
promote tourism during initial years of its inception, it fails to bring out the present tourist
operations of KSR and lacks a focus on the future potential and challenges before KSR in
promotion and development of rail-based tourism in the region.
IX. Bhandari's [1987] study starts with a brief introduction of the historical development of
Indian Railways and then goes on to discuss the broad picture of South eastern Railway
(SER). The history and the present charm of each section have been discussed. However,
the study fails to focus on the tourism potential of SER.
X. Lohani [2001] through his presentation has brought about a detailed study of the railway's
tourism potential in India. After pointing out various existing and potential rail-based
tourism products on Indian Railways, the author goes on to suggest measures for their
development and promotion. The study is focused primarily on the promotion of domestic
tourism on Indian Railways.
XI. Sharma [20001 through her article has critically analysed the initiatives and policy
measures taken by Indian Railways to promote rail-based tourism in the country. The study
is critical of the past attitudes of the railway policy makers towards tourism but at the same
time is optimistic about the recent shifts in the focus of railway authorities to promote rail-
based tourism in the country.
Research Gap
Almost all the studies conducted so far on Indian Railways show that the tourism aspect of Indian
Railways has largely been neglected and does not find a due place in these studies. These studies
focus on different aspects of Indian Railways, such as history, administration, management, pricing,
engineering, signaling, rolling stock etc. Except for a few scanty articles and papers, none of these
is specific in dealing with the tourism aspect of Indian Railways. Also there has been no major
academic or organisational level research done on this 4-aspect of Indian Railways.
 The limitations of the existing studies on the one hand and the recent limited attempts, both at
organisational as well as academic levels, to deal with the subject of rail-based tourism in the
country on the other, leave a gap for making a study to explore the potential and review the
performance of Indian Railways with regard to its role in the promotion of tourism in the country.

Statement of the Problem

Indian Railways has immense tourism potential not only in that it reaches out to places throughout
the length and breadth of the country and meets the travel requirements of the major portion of
the tourist market, but also because of its enormous potential as being a tourist attraction in itself.

Estimates show about 38.77 percent of foreign and about 30.15 percent of domestic tourists
prefer to travel by rail in India. The percentage of domestic tourists preferring the railway seems to
be low. But even this percentage is significant to attract the attention of the policy makers, as it
constitutes about 1.2 percent of the 13 million passengers travelling on Indian Railways daily.

The railway in India, however, remained largely unresponsive to this segment of travellers. It
always treated tourists merely as passengers and hardly ever made any efforts to work for the
promotion of tourism till 1980s, when the railway authorities envisaged to make some concerted
efforts in this direction. Various steps were taken by Indian Railways to promote rail-based tourism
in the country. Specific itineraries were designed and various schemes and incentives extended to
attract the tourists. Notwithstanding all these measures, the overall performance of Indian
Railways with regard to promotion of tourism remained dismal. The poor performance is mainly
because of its failure to properly implement these initiatives and strategies in their true spirit. In
the years to come the situation is likely to become more critical as the ongoing efforts in the
improvement of road transport infrastructure start bearing fruit, more so when the road transport
has already made inroads in long distance passenger transportation, which should actually go to
the railway.

Despite the above situation the ongoing shift in the railway policy, to meet the requirements of
the highly dynamic and growing tourism market and the establishment of IRCTC as a specialised
rail-tourism company, has raised hopes for the better future of rail-based tourism in the country.
However, this can only be possible, if the Indian Railways works for the effective implementation of
its policy decisions.

Against this backdrop, the need for a comprehensive and systematic study of rail-based tourism
potential of India and the role that Indian Railways has played and could play in its promotion is
imperative. The present study is intended to go a long way in making a significant contribution to
the knowledge and understanding of the potential of rail-based tourism in the country and the
problems the railway has faced or is facing in its promotion .

Research Design
The study is primarily concerned with the role of Indian Railways in the promotion ol" tourism and
other interrelated aspects of rail-based tourism in India. However, an attempt has also been made
to establish a general relationship between transport and tourism. The study is exploratory in its
basic nature. But it is also descriptive and suggestive as well, while analysing certain decision
variables and policy Imperatives. While the known determinants in the study are analysed in detail,
for unknown factors an exploratory approach has been adopted to establish a causal relationship
with the subject under study.

The overall design of the study follows the steps of setting objectives,
developing hypothesis, defining scope and specifying methodology adopted. These are described
in the same order as follows.

Objectives of the study

The present study has been undertaken to examine and evaluate the role of Indian Railways in the
promotion of tourism and to study the performance of 'Palace on Wheels'. Precisely the whole
study aims at the following objectives:

1. To study the performance of Indian Railways with regard to the promotion of tourism.

2. To examine the usage of Indian Railways by the tourists.

3. To review the initiatives taken and strategies adopted by Indian Railways to promote rail-based
tourism.

4. To analyse and examine the performance of tourist-specific trains especially the 'Palace on
Wheel.

5. To identify the problem areas: and finally

6. To suggest suitable remedial measures to overcome the problems and achieve accelerated
growth of rail-based tourism in the country.

Hypotheses
In consonance with the aforesaid objectives the following hypotheses have been laid for
verification and confirmation.

1) That, the Indian Railways has an enormous tourism potential on and off its tracks.

2) That, it could play an important role in promoting India as a tourist destination.

3) That, the Indian Railways has by and large lagged behind in effectively and efficiently utilizing its
tourism potential.

4) That, the prospects of rail-based tourism in India are bright.

Methodology Adopted
The methodology adopted with regard to tools and techniques used and the pattern of statistical
analysis employed has been determined in consonance with the set objectives. During the course
of the study both the descriptive and analytical techniques have been used.

The Approach

To achieve the objectives of the study and to test the developed hypotheses both primary and
secondary sources of data have been used. However, the significant part of the study is based on
the secondary data obtained from the relevant organisations and agencies, published and
unpublished materials available at zonal, regional and national levels. The data have also been
obtained from research papers, articles, seminar and conference papers, journals, bulletins and
newspapers. The books, annual reports, directories and statistical yearbooks have also been
consulted to obtain the relevant information.
Besides the secondary sources some firsthand information has also been collected through in-
depth formal and informal discussions and interviews with the tourists, travel agents, experts,
higher and middle level officials in the Ministry of Railways, officials at Indian Railways Catering and
Tourism Corporation, Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation, Ministry of Tourism and other
relevant agencies. These primary sources of information have helped in a big way to fill the gaps in
secondary data, wherever necessary.

Data Sources

As mentioned earlier the data and information, gathered during the course of the study, has been
obtained form both secondary as well as primary sources.

Secondary Sources

The secondary sources for data collection and literature review included:

I. Ministry of Railways, Government of India, New Delhi.

II. Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), New Delhi.
III. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, New Delhi.
IV. India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), New Delhi.
V. Indian Steam Railway Society (ISRS), New Delhi.
VI. Northern Railway (NR) headquarters. New Delhi.
VII. Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC), Jaipur.
VIII. Railway Board Library, Rail bhawan. New Delhi.
IX. Rail Transport Library & Study Center, New Delhi.
X. Library National Rail Museum. New Delhi.
XI. Central Library, .jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
XII. Maulana Azad Library, AMU. Aligarh.
XIII. Seminar Library, Department of Commerce, AMU, Aligarh.

Primary Sources
The primary information is obtained mainly through discussions and interviews with the following
sources:
I. Director Tourism (DT), Ministry of Railways, New Delhi.
II. Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Directorate of Tourism, Ministry of Railways, New Delhi.
III. Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Ministry of Railways, New Delhi.
IV. Editor (English), Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways, New Delhi.
V. Director Marketing, IRCTC, New Delhi.
VI. Senior Manager Tourism, IRCTC. New Delhi.
VII. Director, National Rail Museum, New Delhi.
VIII. Group General Manager, Northern Railways, New Delhi.
IX. Executive Director, RTDC, Jaipur.
X. Senior Manager, 'Palace on Wheels', RTDC, Jaipur.

Analysis of Data

For the analysis and interpretation of data, wherever necessary, the simple and primary statistical
measures and techniques such as share calculations, growth rates, simple averages and weighted
averages etc. have been applied.

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is wide in terms of period coverage, but at certain places shorter time
periods have been used on account of scarcity of data. However, in terms of product and market
coverage its scope is limited. Through this study the Indian Railways" policy for promotion and
development of tourism in the country has been reviewed for which the period covered is
significant.

The tourist products available on Indian Railways network are numerous but only major ones have
been covered. The market coverage is also limited owing to non-availability of data on certain
aspects, such as domestic tourism on Indian Railways.

The scope of the study with regard to 'Palace on Wheels' is wide in terms of period and market
coverage. However, the study limits its scope while evaluating the financial performance of 'Palace
on Wheels', owing to non-availability of data.

However, all possible endeavours have been made to include the latest information, wherever
available, and greatest possible care has been taken to not to allow the inhibiting factors to affect
the overall findings of the study.

Limitations of the Study

The statistical data during the course of the study have not been collected with accurate scientific
specification due to certain limitations. While every possible endeavour has been made to
substantiate the available facts and figures presented in the study, it is perhaps possible that some
inaccuracies may have crept in. The present study, therefore, may not be taken as the statistically
balanced measure of the subject studied. The findings of the study might be verified and tested
through further investigations. The main limitations of the present study are:

a) The most telling limitation of the study has been the non-availability of data on certain
aspects, for example, the Indian Railways has never maintained any data regarding
domestic tourists travelling by it. Even whatever data is available about foreign tourists it is
fragmented, undocumented and not compiled properly.

b) Different sources have been contacted to avail maximum possible data and information.
but it has observed that different sources of information give different data regarding the
same aspect.

c) It was difficult to get the information at the grass root level through direct contact with
tourists on Indian Railways in absence of any differentiation made between the tourists and
nominal passengers by Indian Railways. However, an attempt was made to reach the
tourists on the .selected tourist specialty trains, like 'Palace on Wheels" and Fairy Queen
through questionnaires, but after a long run from pillar to post to get the official
permission, the scholar was denied the permission to do the questionnaire on these trains.

d) D)The related organisations neither publish nor properly maintain the data and information
related to the subject under study. They also do not allow outsiders to access to their
official records and internal working etc., on the pretext of maintaining secrecy. This has
also restricted the data availability.
 CHAPTER 3
THE COMPANY PROFILE
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, „Rail neer', 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.

Currently, IRCTC operates through the following offices and plants:-

 6Rail Neer bottling plants at Nangloi-Delhi, Danapur-Patna, Palur-Chennai, Ambernath-

Maharashtra, Amethi-Uttar Pradesh and Parassala-Kerala;
 1 central Kitchen at Noida;
 4 Base Kitchens at New Delhi, Howrah, Ahmedabad and Patna;
 5 Zonal Offices, namely, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Secundrabad;
 10 Regional Offices, namely, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Ahmadabad, Guwahati,
Bhubaneswar, Patna, Ernakulam and Bangalore;
 1 Internet Ticketing Office, New Delhi;
 1 Tourism office, New Delhi.

ORGANISATIONAL SET UP

IRCTC informed about their composition of the Board of Directors as under:

Dr. Arun Kumar Manocha Chairman & Managing Director
Shri Mahendra Pratap Mall Director (Finance)
Shri V. Sri Ram D Director (Catering Services)
Smt. Amritbir Kaur Brar Director (Tourism & Marketing)
Shri Ranjan Prakash Thakur Government Director
Shri B. Prashanth Kumar Government Director

When asked if the composition of the Board of Directors of IRCTC meets the requirements of DPE
guidelines, IRCTC stated that due to vacancy of 3 non-official/ Independent Directors since 19thJuly
2015on the Board of IRCTC, the composition does not meet the requirements of DPE guidelines. As
per DPE guidelines, there should be at least 1/3rdof Independent Directors on the Board of non-
listed CPSE. With the completion of tenure of all the Independent Directors on 19thJuly, 2015, at
present, there are non-official/independent Directors on the Board. However, the Ministry has
been apprised and requested to take necessary action to fill up the post of non-
official/Independent Directors on the Board of IRCTC at the earliest.

Regarding the number of meetings held by the Board of Directors of IRCTC, the Company informed
that the Board met for a total of 26 times in the last five years (2010-11 to 2014-15).

When enquired about the status of the process to fill up the vacancy of the Independent Directors
on the Board of Directors of IRCTC during the briefing given by Railway Board on IRCTC on
7thJanuary, 2016. In this regard, Chairman, Railway Board stated that:-
“Three posts of independent Directors are lying vacant. They are independent Directors who are
appointed by Department of Public Enterprises and approved by ACC. That process is on. Incidentally I may
mention that Screening Committee meeting is scheduled today afternoon for selecting the independent
Directors and once it is done I think these posts will get filled up.”

Consequently, after deposing before the Committee on 9thJune, 2016, IRCTC in their written reply
submitted that the three posts were yet to be filled. It further elaborated that since as per Article
of Association, the appointment of Directors vests with the President of India (POI) through
Ministry of Railways (MOR), the Company has requested the Ministry accordingly. The Ministry of
Railways has sent the proposal for appointment of Independent Directors to DPE on 18thMarch,
2016.

When asked if the working of IRCTC was affected by the continuance of the abovementioned
vacancies, the Company in their written reply drew attention to the Companies Act, 2013 and DPE
guidelines which lay down the importance of Independent Directors on the Board of a Company.
IRCTC reiterated the viewpoint that due to the vacancy of Independent Directors on the Board of
IRCTC, the composition of the Board of Directors and Committees thereof was not in conformity
with the provisions of Companies Act, 2013 and Clause 3.1.4 of Guidelines on Corporate
Governance for CPSEs, 2010 issued by DPE and the Company has not been able to disburse PRP for
the year 2014-15.
OBJECTIVES OF IRCTC
The vision, mission and objectives of IRCTC are given below:-

Vision :
To be the leading provider of high quality travel, tourism and hospitality related services, for a
range of customer segments, with consistently high level of customer satisfaction.

Mission :
IRCTC will establish itself as a leader in the area(s) of hospitality services, Travel and Tourism,
packaged drinking water, and Internet Ticketing by providing value added products and services for
passengers, tourists and other customers, targeting IR and Non-IR related services alike, building a
resilient business portfolio that is scalable and based on core competence.

The specific objectives of IRCTC are:-

I. To provide high quality catering services directly as well as through network of
professionally competitive licensees and franchisees.
II. To be a significant player in the hospitality business.
III. To produce bulk food manufacturing facilities like food factories etc.
IV. To provide high quality package drinking water (Rail Neer) to passengers in trains and at
Railway stations.
V. To promote and market packaged drinking water in competitive market outside Railway
premises under a different brand name or otherwise.
VI. To promote tourism across the country especially for all segments of Rail Passengers.
VII. To promote inbound travel mainly correlated to religious tourism thereby enhancing
diplomatic initiatives through "people to people contact”.
VIII. To provide single window solution to its customers including train travel, road travel, air
travel, hospitality, hotel accommodation and catering etc.
IX. To develop and operate “post arrival and pre-departures services” at Executive Lounges,
Multi-functional complexes, budget hotels etc. through participation by professionals.
X. To maintain leading position in internet ticketing, e-commerce and technology for
customers interface for railway passengers/ customers.
XI. To be a technology-driven customer-oriented Company through constant innovation and
human resource development.
XII. To promote private sector participation and expertise to improve quality of products and
services.
XIII. To imbibe strong customer friendly, professional and ethical work culture.
XIV. To adopt strong Corporate Governance practices and best and transparent industry
practices.
XV. To work towards creation of additional infrastructure on Railway or non-railway premises in
their mandated line of business with a view to improve the Gross Block.

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

The Human Resource Development (HRD) function is the organization has been designed to
improve the knowledge, ability, skills, and other talents of their employees. IRCTC firmly believes in
the strength to its vital asset i.e. Human Resource . To the employees’ morale high, the company
follows best management practices to ensure welfare of its employees through a process of
inclusive growth and development.

Category No. Of Employees

Regular Employees 1403
Deputationists 58
On contract/ZTO 03
Consultants 19
Out Sourced 618

The percentage of women employees, SC/ST/OBC employees, persons with disabilities and ex-
servicemen out of regular employees of the company is mentioned below:

Category No. Of Employees % of total no. Of regular

employees
Women employees 117 5.57
SC Personnel 270 12.85
St Backward Classes 73 3.47
Other with Disabilities 339 16.14
Persons with Disabilities 05 0.24
Ex- Serviceman NIL -

Government of India has issued a policy on reservation from time to time providing for certain
percentage of reservation on direct recruitment as well as promotion in specified posts for
reservation of SCS and STs. IRCTC, being a CPSE, strictly complies with reservation policies through
maintenance of Posts Based Roaster System as prescribed by the Government.

During the year, to give better opportunities to employees, 120 employees of workmen category of
W1 to W3 grade were promoted to W6 grade and3 employees of S4- E0 grade were promoted to
E-2 grade by conducting Limited Departmental Competitive Examination (LDCE).

MoU targets 2017-18 and achievements thereof:

S.NO Target Status of Achievements
1 100% online Quarterly vigilance clearance Quarterly Vigilance Clearance were taken from
updation for senior Executives (AGM and vigilance in respect to all Executives (AGM &
above) above) online
2 Preparation of succession plan and its 15.11.2017
approval by Board of Directors by 30.09.2017
3 100% holding of DPC without delay for 14 selection were planned during 2017-18 and
executive (EO and above level) all of 14 selection have been issued. In addition
to these selection, 19 DPC were planned for
promotions on suitability basis and all 19 DPC
were completed in 2017-18
4 Talent management and career progression 10.38% (out of 301 Executives in the company,
by imparting at least one week training in 31 have been given one week training in IIM/
Centre of Excellence within India e.g. IITs, Rohtak & MDI/ Gurugram.)
 IIMs. NITs, ICAI etc- 10% of Executives

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, 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.

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
20011-12 1762

Financial Performance
The key highlights of the financial performance of the company during F.Y. 2017-18 along with the
corresponding performance in F.Y. 2016-17 are mentioned below:
(Rs in Crores)
Particulars F.Y.2017-18 F.Y.2016-17 % age increases/
decreases
Turnover 1468.18 1538.93 4.59
Total Income 1544.16 1595.30 3.21
Profit before Tax 341.48 331.55 3.03
Provision for Tax 119.46 160.76 2.31
Profit after Tax 222.02 214.69 3.41
Profit bought forward 353.42 230.65 22.77
Transferred to General Reserve 35.00 35.00 -
Interim Dividend - 36.50 100
Final Dividend (Including Dividend 106.89 101.92 4.88
Distribution Tax)
Reserves &Surplus 907.71 728.84 22.94
Net Worth 947.71 778.34 21.76
Earnings Per Share ( `) 55.51 52.93 4.87

a) Capital Structure
 As on 31st March,2018, the Authorised share Capital and paid-up share capital of the
company was ` 50 crores and ` 40 crores respectively. President of India (Government
of India) through Ministry of Railways and its nominees hold up share capital of the
company .
b) Dividend
As per the guidelines issued by Department of Investment and Public Asset Management
(DIPAM) dated 27th May , 2016, the minimum dividend to be paid by CPSEs For the year
should be at least 5% of net Worth Or 30% Of profit after tax , Whichever is higher . In view
of the above , the Board has recommended a final dividend of 222% on the paid-up share
capital of ` 40 crores . The proposed final dividend amounts to ` 88.81 crores and total
dividend (including dividend distribution tax) for the year 2017-18 comes out to be `
106.89 crores as ` 101.92 crores for the FY 2016-17, which is an increase of 4.88% over
previous year. The proposed dividend for FY 2016-17 works out to be 40% of profit after tax
and is 9.37 % of net worth as at 31.03.2018. The final Dividend is subject to approval of the
shareholders in the ensuring annual General meeting.
c) Contribution to Revenue of Ministry of railways
The company also contributes by way of revenue share to ministry of Railways (MoR) and
the total share of Such of contribution was ` 185.05 crores during the year as against `
327.31 crores during the previous year . contribution to the revenue of (MoR) comprises of
Haulage Charges, Concession fee, License fee, User Charges and Dividend .
d) Initial Public Officer
In the union Budget 2017, your Company’s shares were announced to be listed on the
stock Exchange , However, to go ahead further , confirmation from Ministry of Railways is
awaited.

Operational Performance
The segment wise operational performance of the company during 2017-18 is detailed below:

a) Catering & Hospitality;

b) Travel & Tourism;
c) Internet Ticketing;
d) Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer)
A. Catering & Hospitality:
The catering and Hospitality segment of IRCTC is segregated as produced below::

 Railway Catering
 Non Railway Catering
The loss from Departmental Catering during 2017-18 decreased to `14.86 crores from `54.18
crores in 2016-17. The promulgation of new catering policy on27.02.2017 will result in further
reduction of losses incurred in the departmental catering segment.
 1. Railway Catering
I. Mobile Catering
As on 31.03.2018, IRCTC managed on-board catering services in 8 Rajdhanis, 1 Tejas &
Gatiman each, 7 Shatabdis, 14 Duronotos, 12 Humsafaras, 3 Jan Shatabdis and 97
Mail/Express trains through award of temporary licenses. IRCTC also managed 1 each of
Rajdhani/Shatabdi and 3 Mail/ Express trains through departmental operations. During
2017-18, Ministry of Railways introduced 1 Tejas, Rajdhani & Shatabdi each, 7 Humsafars
and 10 Mail/express trains IRCTC managed the onboard catering services in these trains.

Accordingly, the takeover process was initiated in April 2017, followed by submission of
Business Plan to Railway Board as per the Policy. Subsequently, detailed policy guidelines
Were issued and Zones were directed to initiate the takeover of units from Indian Railways.
The mobile units’ takeover was completed in Oct’ 2017 barring a few trains due to ongoing
litigation. In total, 186 mobile contracts including 8 Rajdhani, 16 Shatabdi, 5 Duronto,
146Mail/ Express & 11 Jan Shatabdi contract have been taken over from Railways through
reassignment of contracts.

Mobile Catering continues to be a challenging task over Indian Railways. The unbundling
strategy contemplated envisages that food production will from the foundation on which
quality of meals offerings will depend. The massive size and spread of the business is a
potential opportunity to create capacity on catering for IR and attract private investment
through PPP. Further, food services companies are likely to participate to deliver quality in
onboard services with improved onboard infrastructure, planned to be executed by IR.

II. Static Catering

Static unit takeover from IR viz. Ahars, cell Kitchens and refreshments rooms (category- A &
A1 stations) were also executed. In all, 44 Jan AHARS, 165 refreshments rooms and 25 Cell
kitchens were taken over from IR by Dec’ 2017, except few units which were under
litigation then.
As on 31.03.2018, IRCTC managed 247 Units including 167 Refreshments Rooms, 56 Jan
Ahars and 27 Cell Kitchens.

III. Base Kitchens

As in case of mobile and static units, 10 base kitchens were also taken over from IR
As on 31st March, 2018, IRCTC managed Base Kitchens at New Delhi, Howrah, Ahmedabad,
Patna, Mumbai Central, Mumbai CST, Balharshah, Nagpur, Beelasore, Sealdah and
Kharagpur Jn. The Base Kitchens at New Delhi and Howrah are being managed
departmentally. As other location, service providers have been engaged for operations. The
base kitchens at New Delhi, Howrah and Patna are ISO 2200-2005 certified. Regular
inspectors are conducted for monitoring the food quality and also for ensuring the
 standards of meals prepared as such kitchens. IRCTC’s Central Kitchen at Noida sets the
benchmark for base kitchen infrastructure.

IV. E- Catering
E-Catering is steadily expanding business and covers all 409 A and A-1 class stations, as
advised by Ministry of Railways. Around 250 stations have already been made live and sell
help groups from 10 stations are also serving meals through E- Catering.
The services of E- Catering are now available for passengers through
www.ecatering.irctc.co.in along with telephone calls SMSs. Further, a mobile application
‘’cherished Food on Track’’ has been developed for facilitating online ordering for
passengers on the move. The average meals booked per day has now increased to more
than 8500 meals per day. This average daily bookings under E-Catering for FY18 stood at
5188 meals. This is an encouraging trend and there is inbuilt potential for growth. The
company has taken steps to attract more F&B brands including reputed local and national
level brands. This is being done with a view to offer choices and options alongside other
existing catering facilities. As a shared endeavour of IR and IRCTC for providing good quality
food and reliable service to train passengers, public awareness is critical to the success of
the effort. IRCTC has taken steps independently press releases, in addition to social media,
The web page for E-Catering has also been upgraded and made more user friendly by
incorporating innovative upgrades for improved user engagement.

V. Budget Hotel
The company is presently operating two Rail Yatri Niwas and two Budget Hotels from the
following locations;
1. Ginger Rail Yatri Niwas, New Delhi
2. Sampath Rail Yatri Niwas, Howrah
3. Budget Hotel, Puri
4. Budget Hotel, Ranchi

2. On- Railway Catering

In view of the impending takeover of catering from IR, exit strategies are in place to divest
from non- railway catering business and effectively deploy such released resources into Rail
catering. IRCTC has been entrusted to take over catering services if Indian Railways in a
phased manner. In the initial phase, all mobile units have been taken over by IRCTC. Post
takeover process, the operations are expected to be resource intense. Therefore, it has
been decided that IRCTC will only take up select units under NRC business on revised
business model.

2.1 Central Kitchen (ISO 22000:2005 certified)

The central kitchen has been providing quality meals and snacks to the prestigious trains.
This is a one of its kind ultra-modern Food Factor in line with the major Air Flight Catering
 Kitchens to produce meals of high quality and standards. The factory is fully automated
with equipment from the best of the manufactures from India and abroad and managed by
IRCTC’s staffs who are qualified professionals from the F&B industry.

B. 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. 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.

The income from Travel & Tourism Business of IRCTC has observed a decrease of 23.10%
from `528.67 Cr. 2016.17 to `406.54 Cr. In 2017-18. The reason for decrease in the revenue
was operation of fewer numbers of State Special Trains.

 Tourism Portal
In the era of modern technology where Internet, websites and apps are ruling the world,
IRCTC has realised the potential of growing as an online Travel Agency. IRCTC launched its
Tourism Portal www.irctctourism.com in March 2007, and has been offering complete online
travel solutions to the customers since the last 9 year. The portal has won the “National
Tourism Award” in the year 2008, “Website of the year” for consecutive three years i.e.2014,
2015 & 2016 by “Leisure & Travel “by Matrix Lab and “Indian e-Retail award” for consecutive
three years from 2015 to 2017 by Franchise India. The portal offers on-line booking of Tourist
Trains, Air Tickets, tour Packages be it through rail, air or land, Hotel and cabs. To be at par
with the user friendliness and facilities which other OTAs offers, IRCTC is in the process of
revamping its tourism website.

New tourism products such as saloon cars on charter, trains and coaches on charter, hill
trains and coaches on charter. Even management and AC tourist Trains Tours are also added
for booking by the customer in the upcoming new version of the portal.

 Bharat Darshan Tourist Train

 One of the most popular tourism products of IRCTC, Bharat Darshan Tourist Trains are
special tourist trains tour packages offered by the company primarily targeting who have
budgetary constrains for their tour. These trains operate from various cities across the
length and breadth of the country on various circuits covering various tourist destinations.
Attractively priced at `900/- per day passenger + applicable GST for Non- AC Sleeper Class,
the tour package is inclusive of rail and road travel, all meals sightseeing and
accommodation. Above all the tourists are also insured for an accidental claim upto a sum
assured of `4 lakhs. During FY 2017-18, IRCTC operated 72 trips of Bharat Darshan Tourist
Trains and a total of 45,994 tourists availed the tour package of this special train.

 Buddist Circuit Special Train

Started in the year 2007, the Buddist Circuit Special Train completed 10 years of operation
by IRCTC. This is a fully air conditioned train offering a 7 Nights and 8 Days package covering
all major Buddhist Pilgrim Locations in India and Lumbini in Nepal . The niche tourism
product is mostly patronised by international tourists across the globe. During the FY 2017-
18 , IRCTC has operated 5 trips of Buddhist Circuit Special Trains and 252 tourists availed
this tour package . The product generated a total income `.1.56 Crores for IRCTC in FY
2017-18. IRCTC is also in the process of revamping the existing web page of the Buddhist
Special tourist train https://www.irctcbuddhisttrain.com/ to give it a new look and feel and
make it more user friendly.

 Aastha Circuit special Train :

For special Interest Tours , IRCTC conceptualised the “Aastha Circuit tourists trains” in the
year 2017. This train caters to people interested in visiting various religious destinations for
pilgrimage . Again attractively priced at ` 900/- a day (Plus applicable GST ) per tourist for
Non –AC Sleeper Class, The train tour Package includes rail and road travel, all meals,
sightseeing, accommodation , insurance . IRCTC operated 13 Aastha Circuit trains in FY 2017-
18 and 5,623 tourists availed this special train tour package which generated a total income
of `4.84 Crores .

 Gandhi Circuit special Train:

Focussing on another special interest tourism product, IRCTC operated ‘Gandhi Darshan
Special Tourist Train’ on the decision of Ministry of Railways and to commemorate the
occasion of ‘centenary celebration of Sabarmati Ashram’ associated with the father of the
Nation- Mahatma Gandhi. The first such train was in inaugurated on June 17, 2017 which
was flagged off by Shri Vijay Rupani hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat.

 Maharaja’ Express
Maharajas’ Express has created a brand image for IRCTC in the field of Luxury Tourism in the
international arena. Launched in the year 2010, within 7 years of commencement, the
Maharajas’ Express has been awarded as the World’s leading Luxury Tourist Train
consequently from the year 2012 to 2017 at the World Travel Awards. Maharajas’ Express
operates on 5 different itineraries out of which three itineraries are of 7 Nights/ 8 Days and
two are of 3 Nights/ 4 Days which cover places like Ajanta, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur,
Ranthambore, Agra, Balasinor, Gwalior, khajuraho, Varanasi and Lucknow. Looking towards
the increasing demand, IRCTC will be operating the train in new itineraries of South India in
the next financial year and accordingly the itineraries have been uploaded with departure
dates on the special dedicated website of the Train www.the-maharajas.com. During the
year, total of 945 paid tourists ( as against 1000 No. Of PAX under MoU 2017-18) availed the
services of Maharajas’ Express in 28 Trips. The 23 carriage long train houses four different
types of accommodation viz. Deluxe Cabin, Junior Suite, Suite and the Presidential Suite
named after various precious gem stones. All cabins come with ensuite bathrooms with
running hot and cold water supply. The Deluxe Cabins and Junior Suites have a WC and
Shower Chamber. The Suites have a bathroom with a WC and Bathtub. The Presidential
Suite has two bathrooms one with a WC and Shower Chamber and the other with a WC and
Bathtub. The Presidential Suite, which spans one full carriage, has a living area with two
bedrooms both having attached bathrooms. The Presidential Suite has been given a Lotus
theme which is reflected in the hand painted ceilings, wall tiles of bathrooms, drapery and
paintings. The train has two restaurants with seating capacity of 42 each, named Rang
Mahal and Mayur Mahal serving a range of international and Indian delicacies. In addition to
the restaurants, there are 2 Bar cum Lounges in the train. The Rajah Club and The Safari Bar
serve a mix of House Pours and other international brands. The House Pours are included in
the package and select international wines and spirits are on sale. The train offers seven
journey options covering the various princely and culturally rich states of the country.

Indian Splendour (7 Nights/8 Days) starting in Delhi covering Agra, Ranthambore, Jaipur,
Bikaner, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Balasinor and ending in Mumbai.
Heritage of India (7 Nights/8 Days) starting in Mumbai covering Ajanta, Udaipur, Jodhpur,
Bikaner, Jaipur, Ranthambore, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra and ending in Delhi.

Indian Panorama (7 Nights/8 Days) starting in Delhi covering Jaipur, Fatehpur Sikri,
Ranthambore, Agra, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Varanasi, Lucknow and ending in Delhi.

Gems of India/Treasures of India (3 Nights/4 Days) starting in Delhi covering Agra,

Ranthambore and Jaipur.

Two new itineraries to South India have also been planned in September 2018 and 2019:

Southern Sojourn (7 Nights/8 Days) starting in Mumbai covering Ratnagiri, Goa, Hampi,
Mysore, Ernakulam, Kumarakom and ending in Trivandrum.
Southern Jewels (7 Nights/8 Days) starting in Trivandrum covering Chettinad,
Mahabalipuram, Mysore, Hampi, Goa, Ratnagiri and ending in Mumbai.
 Owing to its exquisite services, the train has been voted as World’s Leading Luxury Train by
World Travel Awards for six years in a row since 2012. Website: www.the-maharajas.com

 Palace on Wheels
The Palace on Wheels is a luxury tourist train being operated by Indian Railways in
association with Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation. The train comprises of 14
fully air-conditioned saloons with rich décor that evoke the age of Rajput chivalry and are
named after former Rajputana states such as Kota, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner,
Alwar, Sirohi, Kishangarh, Bundi, Dungarpur, Bharatpur, Jhalawar and Dholpur. The train also has
two fine dining restaurants, a well stocked bar and a lounge car for relaxation.
Itinerary
Delhi-Jaipur-Sawai Madhopur-Chittaurgarh-Udaipur-Jaisalmer-JodhpurBharatpur-Agra-Delhi
Website: www.rtdc.in

 Golden Chariot
The land once ridden by formidable armies is now traversed by the world’s unique luxury
train. The Golden Chariot beckons you to discover worlds that are enriched with history and
culture. Recline and relax as the magnificent scenery unfolds outside your windiow with
luxury on the inside, thus far reserved for royalty. The Golden Chariot presents a fine
balance between a glorious yesterday and an omnipresent tomorrow in the magical land of
Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry. It is being operated by Indian Railways
in association with Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation. The fully air-
conditioned train comprising of 11 passenger saloons, 2 restaurant coaches, 1 spa and gym
car and 1 bar cum lounge car began operation in the year 2008 covering the states of
Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.

Itineraries
1. Pride of South: Bengaluru -Mysore-Hassan-Hospet-Badami-GoaBengaluru
2. Southern Splendour: Bengaluru-Chennai/MahabalipuramPuducherry-Tanjavur/Trichy-
Madurai-Kanyakumari/KovalamKocchuveli-Aleppy-Kochi-Bengaluru.
Website: www.goldenchariot.org

 Deccan Odyssey
The Deccan Odyssey is also a luxury tourist train being operated by Indian Railways in
association with Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation to experience the finest
and the best of train journeys of the world. The Deccan Odyssey is more than a mere luxury
train cruise. Alavishly decorated trains that transports its guests on an unforgettable
sojourn on different itineraries covering diggerent parts of the country, the Deccan Odyssey
offers accommodation in 40 deluxe cabins in 10 coaches. It also has 4 presidential suites in
2 cars, 1 Conference car with business center, 2 restaurants, a well-stocked bar and a spa
with steam, massage, a mini gym and a parlor. Other facilities include channel music,
 intercom, CD/MP3 player, wall-to-wall carpeting, money exchange / credit card facility,
safety & security arrangements, shelth spa, bar, conference equipments.
Itineraries
1) Mumbai-Nashik-Aurangabad-Jalgaon/Pachora-KolhapurKarmali/Madgaon-
Sawantwadi-Mumbai
2) Mumbai-Vishwamitri-Palitana-Veraval-Viramgam-Patan-NashikMumbai
3) Mumbai-Vishwamitri-Udaipur-Jodhpur-Sawai Madhopur-AgraJaipur-Delhi
4) Delhi-Sawai Madhopur-Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur-VadodaraAurangabad-Mumbai
5) Mumbai-Bijapur-Badami-Hospet/Hampi-Hyderabad-AurangabadJalgaon/Pachora-
Mumbai
6) Mumbai-Aurangabad-Ramtek-Varora-Jalgaon/Pachora-NashikMumbai
7) Mumbai-Udaipur-Jaipur-Delhi-Fatehpur Sikri-Agra-VaranasiSiliguri.
8) Mumbai-Jalgaon/Pachora-Khajuraho-Varanasi-Allahabad-SanchiMumbai.
9) Mumbai-Karmali/Goa-Mumbai
Website: www.maharashtratourism.gov.in

 Buddhist Circuit Special Train

Started in the year 2007, the Buddhist Circuit Special Train completed 10 years of operation
by IRCTC. This fully air-conditioned train runs on a 7 Night /8 Days itinerary covering all
major Buddhist Pilgrim locations in India and Lumbini in Nepal. The major destinations
covered follow the life of Lord Gautam Buddha. The itinerary covers destinations like
Bodhgaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Varanasi, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Lumbini (Nepal), Sravasti and
Agra. From the upcoming tourist season, the train is being launched with a new swanky LHB
rake with dining car. The details and online booking of the train is available at Buddhist
micro-site www.irctcbuddhisttrain.com
C. Internet Ticketing
IRCTCs E-Ticketing service has continued to go from strength to strength ever since it came
into the market and now accounts for 65.83% of reserved tickets on Indian Railways booked
online, leaving behind several high profile e-commerce sites worldwide. On an average,
more than 6.75 lac tickets were sold daily through IRCTCs website during 2017-18, The site
offers round the clock tickets booking services except for 35 minutes from 2345 hrs to 0020
hrs. The site offers booking facilities of various full fare and concessional tickets.
Service Charge
A nominal service charge earlier levied by IRCTC @ `20/- per e-ticket for Non- AC classes
and @ `40/-per e-ticket for AC classes was withdrawn by Ministry of Railways W.E.F 23 rd
November 2016 to promote digital payment. The announcement regarding withdrawal of
service charge was thereafter made in Union Budget 2017-18 also and it continues to be
withdrawn till date.
 The withdrawal of service charge has resulted in loss ` 693 Crores incurred of(approx.)
during 2017-18 in turnover IRCTC. The annual expenditure of approx. `80 crores incurred on
the ticketing system on web site, marketing operation and after sale service is being
compensated by Ministry of Railways. The withdrawal of service charge on the ticket,
though has reduced the income from this segment, efforts are being made to encash full
potential of website along with mobile application schemes by data monetization, e-
auctioning, retail management etc.

D. Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer)

At present, IRCTC has been operational plants located at Delhi, Patna, Palur, Ambernath,
Parassala and Blaspur, of which the plants at Amethi and Parasaala are under PPP mode.
The total production of Railneer at Nangloi, Danapur, Palur, Ambernath, Amethi, Parassala
& Bilaspur plants was 20.20 crore bottles against total production of 18.70 crore bottles in
previous year. The capacity utilization of all plants was 82% as on 31st March 2018.
Quality: Rail Neer Plant, Danapur, Nangloi, Palur, and Ambernath is accredited with ISO
9001:2008 quality management system certification and Rail Neer Plant, Ambernath is
22000:2015 certifiaction.
The result of the tests, carried out of 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.
Technology/Capacity up gradation
 The neck size of bottles has been changed from 30 mm to 27 mm at Danapur plant to
reduce the cost of manufacturing.
 The 500 mi bottles witnessed a design change as well as change in neck size from 30 mm ×
27 mm to 30 mm × 25 mm thereby achieving a cost reduction of 15 paise and economies in
rates of performs.
 To combat design duplication and consequent sales of spurious water, a hologram was
embedded on the Rail Neer bottles as safety feature.
 Use of Handheld Terminals HHT for monitoring CFC operations.
 Rail Neer Carrying and Forwarding Agencies (CFCs) have been empowered to issue invoices
through Handheld Terminals to licensees enabling on live record and reconciliation of sale
and supply of stock to trains and catering units. This has simplified the process of bill
settlements, rendered it accurate and real time. It has also resulted in savings in stationary
and time for reconciliation. Further, it is proposed to populate IRCTCs server with the above
data online rendering it to become design making tool to assess performance of Rail Neer
operations.
Table showing performance of Rail Neer ( physical & financial ) for all the plants for the
plants for 2017-2018:
 NAME OF PLANT SALES Turnover including inter-
(No. Of bottles in Crores) segment sales (`crores)
Nangloi 4.28 36.53
Danapur 2.81 25.87
Palur 3.46 29.90
Ambernath 4.88 42.55
Ambethi 2.15 20.05
Parassala 1.52 14.22
bilaspur 0.62 5.75
Total 19.72 174.90

Awards And Achievements

IRCTC endeavours for an all- around growth and the same is reflected in the list of its awards and
achievements:

1. Rail Neer, a signature product of IRCTC , was ranked as top performer out of many other
reputed packaged drinking water brands from across the country by “Consumer Voices”
magazine published by Voluntary Organization in interest of consumer education (VOICE)-
15.05.2017.
2. IRCTC has been awarded Indian e – Retail awards 2017 in the category- Leisure & Travel e-
Retailer of the year for its tourism services in a glittering held at J W Marriot Aerocity, New
Delhi on 15.05.2017
3. IRCTC has covered a leading tourism organization in the country has been named as “The
Most Reliable Domestic Tourism Brand” In the country during recently held prestigious
India Tourism Conclave & Travel Awards event at New Delhi-29.07.2017
4. IRCTC has covered itself with glory by winning the coveted & Bradstreet’s PSU Awards’ 201.
The award was presented in a glittering ceremony held at Hyatt Regency, New Delhi.-
27.07.2017.
5. Riding on a robust growth IRCTC has taken a big leap by improving its ranking in the
prestigious Fortune India Next 500 lost of Indian companies from 199 in 2016 to 62 in 2017-
01.08.2017.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The Committee note that IRCTC has been undertaking CSR activities since 2010-11, even before the
CSR Guidelines were made mandatory by the Government from 2014-15. In terms of the provisions
of the Companies Act 2013, the Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainable Development (CSR &
SD) Committee of IRCTC formulated a CSR Policy which was approved by the IRCTC Board in their
71st Meeting held in February 2015.
The Committee, however, note that the CSR Policy as approved by the IRCTC Board is not in
conformity to the CSR Guidelines issued by the DPE as up gradation of passenger amenities and
provision of infrastructure for passengers at railway stations is the primary responsibility of the
Ministry of Railways. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Department of Public Enterprises
have time and again issued clarifications that expenses incurred by Companies for fulfillment of
statutory obligations would not count as CSR expenditure. As such, inclusion of the welfare of
customers, consumers, railway passengers and railway employees in their CSR Policy document is
not in conformity of the CSR Guidelines issued by the Government. In view of this, certain CSR
activities undertaken by IRCTC under their CSR Policy do not qualify for CSR expenditure viz.
provision of RO treated pure drinking water facility at NRCH, New Delhi in 2013-14 and carrying out
sanitation work at Delhi Cantonment Railway Station in 2014-15 as funds for these activities should
have been met from the "provision of amenities for passengers" budget of IRCTC and not from the
funds marked for CSR activities. The Committee also feel that the idea behind CSR activities is to
target the most backward areas of the Country and to focus on the poorest of the poor and
marginalized sections of society to bring about all-round development in the Country.

The Committee also note from the CSR allocations and expenditure that the expenditure during
2010-11, 2011-12 and 2014-15 has not been satisfactory with huge under-spending during these
years. Further, it appears from the data furnished that the CSR balance funds during 2010-11 and
2011-12 were not carried forward to the CSR Budget of subsequent years.

The Committee, therefore desire that the CSR Policy of IRCTC needs a relook so as to be in
conformity to the CSR Guidelines issued by DPE and clarifications issued by the Government from
time to time. Further, IRCTC should not allocate funds for activities to fulfill their primary mandate
or any activities which fall directly under the primary responsibility of IRCTC or the Ministry of
Railways. The Committee also desire that CSR funds allocated by IRCTC for a particular purpose in a
particular year should be spent in the same year itself and should not be carried forward for
subsequent years.

EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION

The Committee note that in line with the Catering Policy 2010, the Company has accelerated its
efforts for capturing the non-Railway catering business in which it anticipates more business and
profit. IRCTC have informed that many new initiatives are under way in a phased manner such as
setting up of Food Plazas for providing multi-cuisine food under one roof; state-of-the-art Base
Kitchens and Food Factory; catering service to Air India, Chennai Port Trust, All India Radio (Delhi),
Hyderabad Metro, etc.; retiring rooms/ Budget hotels to augment the services of passengers; 50
Executive Lounges to create lavish space for travellers, fine dining restaurant at Connaught Place,
New Delhi, event management service, provision of medical tourism, running of helicopter service
between Katra and Vaishno Devi and also taking up minor passenger amenity 58
functions of the Railways viz. concierge services at stations, e-wheelchairs,
provision of disposable bedrolls, etc.
While the Committee note the efforts made by IRCTC to expand and
diversify its activities to become a Company providing one-window catering,
hospitality, front-office and facility management solutions, they feel that in most
of these areas, IRCTC could face heavy competition in view of the presence of
already established names. The Committee, therefore, desire that IRCTC should
have a well-researched business plan before they venture in some of these areas
which are not in their original mandate/core activities. Improper planning and
haphazard utilization of the available resources could prove counterproductive
for IRCTC, particularly since in the past, a number of its units in its non-Railway
catering segment had to be shut down due to declining customer satisfaction.