Title - IRCTC plans packaged drinking water plant at Parassala

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), is planning to set up a packaged drinking water plant at Parassala here. According to an IRCTC official, the proposal for the plant, submitted to the Ministry of Railways in May this year, was awaiting for approval. The plant, which would come up in the PPP model, will produce packaged drinking water under the brand name ‘Rail Neer’. If the plant at Parassala becomes a reality, construction will be done by the private party in Railway land and IRCTC will be concerned with manufacturing and marketing of packaged drinking water. “If the proposal is accepted, the plant will come up in 4,000 sq.metre of land. It would have a capacity of producing one lakh bottles of water a day. The estimate cost of construction of the plant might come around Rs 10 crore,” said the IRCTC official. Though the source to take water is not yet fixed, groundwater may be utilised for this purpose. Railway has identified the land near Parassala railway station for the proposed plant to come up. “On checking the feasibility of the place with road accessibility, it was found compatible for the packaged drinking water plant to come up,” a railway official said.   The IRCTC at present has three drinking water plants; in Delhi, Patna and Chennai, which were established in 2003, 2004 and 2010 respectively. Two are under construction in Mumbai and Bilaspur.