Title - Railways hikes prices of food items by 40-50%

New Delhi: Train passengers will now have to pay more for food as Railways has increased the prices of food items by about 40 to 50 percent.

The prices of non-vegetarian meal will now cost Rs 50 as against the earlier rate of Rs 35 and a vegetarian meal has been hiked to Rs 40 from the earlier rate of Rs 30, according to a Railway notification.

The notification has listed new tariff for 10 items, including Janata meal, tea and coffee. The popular Janata meal will cost now Rs 20 on trains and Rs 15 at platforms instead of Rs 10 earlier.

"The decision for revising the tariff was taken because of the rising cost of edible oil, LPG and other food commodities. Railways have not revised the food tariff for long as it was last revised in April, 2004," a senior Railway Ministry official said.

Currently, Railways have imposed a service charge of 8.6 percent and VAT of 5 percent on food items.

After the revision of food tariff, Railways are likely to increase the licence fee of catering contractors soon.