Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Share Price

The Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) is a public sector enterprise of the Indian Railways (Government of India). It was established on 27th September 1999. Its office is situated in New Delhi. This was an extension of the Ministry of Railways, which was incorporated to upgrade and provide hospitality services at railway stations, trains, and other places. IRCTC provides services such as tour packages, budget hotels, catering, internet ticketing, and selling packaged drinking water (Rail Neer) at trains and railway stations to promote international and domestic tourism.

IRCTC has offices in several places across the country.

1. There are fourteen packaged drinking water plants in Delhi, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, etc. 
2. IRCTC has under its wings eleven kitchens located at Howrah, Ahmedabad, Patna, Nagpur, Sealdah, Kharagpur, etc. 
3. It has five zonal offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and Secunderabad. 
4. There are ten regional offices at Lucknow, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Patna, Bangalore, Chandigarh, and Ernakulam. 
5. IRCTC has only one ticketing office in New Delhi. Its tourism office is also set up in New Delhi. 

One of the pioneering services offered by IRCTC is an internet-based ticket booking facility. It also gives I-tickets, which are tickets booked online but delivered by postal services. Today, it has other advanced features like SMS facilities to track PNR status and live trains. IRCTC also offers global reservation services, including flight and hotel bookings. 

IRCTC has upgraded its reservation services and now provides tickets to passengers who book seats on short notice in almost all Express trains through the official website of IRCTC under the Tatkal scheme. Tatkal tickets can be booked at 10:00 AM (for AC coach) and from 11:00 AM (non-AC coach) one day in advance. 

IRCTC is the sole caterer of food on trains operated by Indian railways. IRCTC also has the right to run cafeterias and refreshment rooms in railway stations. It has also launched e-catering services that allow passengers to order food from partner restaurants which are then delivered to their seats. IRCTC aims to be the one-stop travel solution for customers. Hence, it includes various other services, like luxurious waiting lounges and budget hotels in collaboration with private companies. 

Indian Railway & Catering Tourism Corporation Ltd has budget-friendly and extravagant tour packages to promote tourism. 'Bharat Darshan' is an affordable tour package organized by IRCTC that takes tourists to popular destinations across India. Trains like Maharaja's Express are included in deluxe tour packages. 

Company History

IRCTC was officially listed on the National Stock Exchange in 2019, which reduced the Government of India's holding to only 87% shares of the company. In 2020, another 20% of the shares were allowed for public trading, and now the Indian Government holds only 67% of IRCTC. Today, IRCTC belongs to the 'Mini Ratna' (Category-I) of central public sector undertaking, which affords IRCTC specific financial liberty.

IRCTC is the only authorized entity to offer the service of booking train tickets online. This service was introduced to bring the passenger reservation system to the passengers so that they don't have to travel to book tickets. The official website of IRCTC is one of the most transacted websites in the Asia-Pacific region, with an average transaction volume of 25 to 28 million transactions per month. In 2004, Indian Railway & Catering Tourism Corporation Ltd introduced PNR status alerts through SMS services. 

IRCTC also provides food services on trains and platforms. To professionalize and upgrade their catering services, in 2004, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd partnered with major food chains to open food plazas at railway stations. IRCTC is the only entity with the right to sell packaged drinking water at railway stations. They manufacture the packaged drinking water named 'Rail Neer.' By 2021, IRCTC added four new Rail Neer plants to the existing ten plants, thus increasing the total number of packaged drinking water plants to fourteen. 

Indian Railways directed the company to undertake tour and travel-related services. This led IRCTC to assume new responsibilities in different tourism segments, like booking train tickets, plane tickets, hotels, and tour packages (budget and deluxe). 

Since its inception as a public sector entity, it has consistently provided substantial returns to its stakeholders. The return on equity has exceeded 23% from FY 2017 to FY 2020, although it dipped to some extent to 12% in FY 2021. However, it has remained a debt-free company since its inception.