Title - Ingenious IRCTC branches out to non-Railway sectors

As if to prove a point to the Railways, which divested it of the task of serving food on trains, the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has started its services in non-Railway sectors, especially in educational institutions.The IRCTC, a Mini Ratna corporation and a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that once served food on more than 300 trains daily, finds itself left with just a handful of trains after the Catering Policy 2010 vested the task with the Railways.Far from disheartened, the IRCTC has branched out its services, bonding successfully with educational institutions and government offices.It has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Management, Indore, for opening a cafeteria in the New Sports Complex of the institute. While the institute will chip in with infrastructure such as furniture, fixtures and kitchen equipment, the IRCTC will set up the kitchen, do the cooking and service, and run the outlet. It will cater to students, employees and visitors and serve food at parties and events hosted on the campus.IRCTC has already been providing its service at the Institute of Secretariat & Training Management, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, taking care of the hostel mess and canteens and offering a variety of cuisines.

The Corporation says 400 meals are served daily, and it generated Rs. 18 lakh in January 2012. The average monthly revenue works out to Rs. 9.67 lakh.

It is also operating catering services in the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, and in Pondicherry University and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram.

The Corporation is said to be doing good business at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Services, Lucknow, raking in Rs.15 lakh a month.