Project Rprt on Irctc

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TOURISM AND TRAVEL MANAGEMENT

GWALIOR 

  SUMMER PROJECT REPORT

ON

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

OF

INDIAN RAILWAY CATERING AND TOURISM CORPORATION

AT

BHOPAL

BY

RASHI RAJE BISEN ROLL NO. :- 45

GUIDANCE CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Ms. Rashi Raje Bisen, IITTM of PGDM (SS) Roll No. 45 (FOURTY

FIVE) has undertaken the project “PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF INDIAN RAILWAY

AND CATERING AND TOURISM CORPORATION LTD. AT BHOPAL”. Under the

guidance of Mr. Achut Singh and Mr. D.N.Mishra from 15th may to 31st July at IRCTC at

Bhopal.

External Guide’s full Signature

Designation

Internal Guide’s Full Signature

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the completion of my project, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who

have extended their support in the smooth completion of this project. I express a deep sense of

gratitude to Mr. Virender Singh (Chief Regional Manager) , Mr. Achut Singh (Asst. Manager),

Mr. D.N.Mishra (Finance Manager) for entrusting me with the responsibility of this project.

I would also take this opportunity to thank the members of the Catering Departments namely

Mr.Siddiqui (Asst. Catering Manager) , for helping me throughout this project.

A special word of thanks to, Dr. Monica Prakash, Dr. Satish Mittal, & Ms. Deepa Shrivastav

for sparing their valuable time in guiding me.

RASHI RAJE BISEN

PREFACE

This project report is on “analyzing performance (financial)” of IRCTC at Bhopal is for the partial fulfillment of my course PGDM (Services).

Performance is the core factor of a corporation for having an idea of its working and to make it more efficient, in this report; I had tried my level best to open all the concepts and theories of managing, controlling, organizing, planning functions, roles and responsibilities in IRCTC.

Although I have tried my level best to prepare this report an error free report every effort has been made to offer the most authenticate position with accuracy.

Hope this project will satisfy the curiosity with regard to an effective performance analysis in growing corporation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION - TOURISM AND CATERING

CHAPTER-2COMPANY’S PROFILE

CHAPTER-3MISSION, VISION AND OBJECTIVES

CHAPTER-4 ABOUT INDIAN RAILWAYS

CHAPTER-5 PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

CHAPTER-6 NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES

CHAPTER-7 ANALYSIS

CHAPTER-8 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

CHAPTER-9 RECOMMENDATIONS

CHAPTER-10 BIBLOGRAPHY AND REFRENCES

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION

TO TOURISM AND CATERING

INTRODUCTION TO INDIAN RAILWAYS

Indian Railways, the largest of its kind in the world with a workforce of about 1.5 million employees, can be easily described as the life-line of the nation and its fast growing economy. Safe and hassle and free journey at most affordable price, to almost every nook and corner of India, speaks volumes about the inherent strength of our Railways.Daily about 13 million passengers benefit directly from this huge net-work of 62,800 route Kms. The last two years have witnessed considerable improvements in various areas including passenger amenities, number of new trains, extension of service and indigenous technology.

A strong tourism strategy with more use of ICT will soon find its place in the system through dedicated tourist trains, rail coaches and regular trains on sectors developed by tour operator and agencies. As part of its long-term strategy towards organizational reforms and restructuring, the Indian Railways (IR) has made serious attempts to induct professionalism into their stream and divest its peripheral areas of operation connected to its core business of transport. The marketing wing of the IR namely the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) is currently working on certain policies, on accommodating private parties from the travel trade fraternity to participate in their joint ventures to promote tourism in the country.

Earlier, the IRCTC had also announced their interest working on JVs with the organized sector of the hospitality industry. This move comes at a time, when the railway authorities have decided to make their presence felt in the tourism scenario as the largest passenger transport company of the country.

INDIAN CATERING

IRCTC shall be taking over three sets of catering establishments namely:

1. ‘Static’ units at station

2. Mobile units, which are the pantry cars attached to the trains

3. Base kitchens, which supply food to trains.

IRCTC would also operate food plazas at various railway stations. They have also introduced “Rail Neer”, packaged drinking water for distribution in trains and at stations across the country

CHAPTER-2 COMPANY’S PROFILE

COMPANY’S PROFILE

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) is a public sector company set up and fully owned by the Ministry of Railways.

The IRCTC has been incorporated under the Companies Act 1956, has its Registered Office at 9th Floor, Bank of Baroda Building, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110001. This company has been formed to function 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 objective of upgrading and managing rail catering and hospitality.

IRCTC Ltd. goes functional for adequately harnessing the tourism and catering potential, worth Rs 500 crore, that exists on the Indian Railways. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between IRCTC Ltd. and Indian Railways to this effect on 12th April,.2002.

The basic purpose of hiving off entire catering and tourism activity of the railways to the new Corporation so as to professionalize and upgrade these services with public-private participation.

Rail based Tourism in India is the specific vehicle for achieving high growth in coordination with state agencies, tour operators, travel agents and the hospitality industry. Indian Railways span global volumes in hospitality and catering sectors with services provided to 13 million passengers every day.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

At present, the Board of the Corporation consists of Chairman, Managing Director, three Functional Directors, two Government Nominee Official Directors and Four part time non-official Directors.

The Board met four (4) times during the year for transacting business and following Directors held office up to the date : -

Vinoo Narain Mathur, Chairman,

Shri Shri Nalin Shinghal, Officiating MD and Director (Tourism & Marketing),

Shri Vinod Asthana, Director (Catering Services)

Shri Naresh Salecha,

Shri Ashok Kumar,

Shri S.B. Mathur,

Shri Arvind Sharma,

Shri Jagdeep S. Chhokar,

Shri Alok Shivapuri

ZONAL OFFICES

West Zone Office:

2nd Floor, New Administrative

Building, Central Railway,

CST, Mumbai-400 001.

South Zone Office:

6A, The Rain Tree Place,

9, Mc Nicolas Road, Chetpet,

Chennai-600 034

East and East Central Zone Office:

Old Koilaghat Building.

3, Koilaghat Street,

Kolkata-700 001.

North Zone Office:

Rail Yatri Niwas,

New Delhi Railway Station,

New Delhi-110 001

South Central Zone Office:

2nd Floor, Am Sri Classic Complex,

Sarojini Devi Road,

Secunderabad-500 07

FACTS

IRCTC has undertaken aggressive all round marketing efforts for the promotion of the train in various key markets such as Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan .

IRCTC tourism portal www.railtourismindia. com, which was launched , has been awarded the National Tourism Award for 2007-08. This portal is fast growing into a one stop travel shop which meets all the travel & tourism needs of a customer.

During the year , the number of tickets booked through IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in has gone up to 1,89,09,502 tickets as against 68,23,481 tickets booked during the previous year. The value of tickets booked has gone upto Rs.1705 crore during the year as against Rs. 679 crore during the previous year.

It touched a daily high of over 1-lac tickets and crossed 2 million ticket sales per month during several months this year.

REVOLUTION IN E-BUSINESS

In India online ticketing has been the most successful force in online E-commerce industry. This also supplemented by the fact that today online travel industry constitutes 78% of the

total E-commerce industry in India

IRCTC estimated a gross annual sale of Rs.3400 crore constitutes 1/3rd of the total ecommerce industry worth Rs.9000 crores in India.

It has been witnessing a healthy annual growth of 100% in no. of tickets sold through online initiatives which stands at 45million tickets FY08.

It owns one of the largest agent networks for selling travel products in India by way of their various initiatives like cyber cafe chains, authorized distributors.

Its tickets are also being sold in association with other travel portals like yatra, clear trip, etc.

CATERING AND TOURISM

The Union government has decided to keep 100 per cent equity in the proposed Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for the first three years of its operation as against its earlier plan of offering 49 per cent stake to the private sector. In a revised draft to the committee of secretaries (CoS), the railways has proposed to bring in the private equity participation after three to four years.

IRCTC primarily has three catering establishments namely:

the stationary passenger stalls,  mobile units, which are the pantry cars attached to the trains 

and base kitchens, which supply food to trains.

Among several plans laid out by the Corporation are the food plazas at various railway stations. Its target is 50 Food Plazas by March 2003. These multicuisine multi-outlet food plazas are not a revenue generating exercise but an endeavour to facilitate and promote rail tourism. These 2000 square feet expanses offer both self-service and sit-down meal options.

Passengers will get the opportunity of having their favourite brand of fast food, as these food plazas will be sub-contracted to many private players. Bangalore, Chennai, CST - Mumbai, Dadar - Mumbai, Nashik, Indore, Bhopal, Agra, Jaipur, Delhi and Nizamuddin are reportedly among the stations earmarked for future food plaza projects .

CHAPTER-3

MISSION, VISION AND OBJECTIVES

MISSION

"Enhance customer services and facilitation in railway catering, hospitality, travel and tourism with best industry practices".

VISION IRCTC’s vision for the tourism business is “To be the leading provider of a complete spectrum of consistently high quality tourism products”.

OBJECTIVES

1) To be a customer friendly company through constant innovation, technology driven and human resource development.

2) Optimize resources, increase manpower productivity through quality product vending and Innovative marketing strategies.

3) Expand areas of core competencies, enhance business opportunities through efficient

public - private partnerships to maximize generation of resources.

4) Imbibe strong and ethical work culture through teamwork, build and reposition Indian Railways in the emerging services sector.

5) Evolve high standards of business ethics, quality management and effective cost control measures.

6) Concern for the environment and heritage

CHAPTER-4

ABOUT INDIAN RAILWAYS

SOME MISCELLANEOUS FACTS ABOUT INDIAN RAILWAYS

The total route length of Indian railway is approximately 63,000 kms. The first electric train was opened in February 1925 on Mumbai suburban railway on Mumbai

Victoria Terminus (VT) – Kurla branch line. As on 31st march, 2004 the electrified route was 17,503 kms. The Indian railway largest in the Asia and second largest in the world after the USSR. The total number of railway station in India is more then 7,000. The Indian railway operates approximately 7,525 trains’ daily covering 7,031 railway stations. The largest platform in India is at Kharagpur. The length is 2,733 feet. It is situated in west Bengal. The longest railway tunnel is Konkan railway tunnel i.e. 65 kms. The longest rail bridge is across Godavari River. The length is 10,052 feet. The largest marshalling yard is at Mughalsarai. The third class in the Indian railway was abolished in 1974. Now there are seven classes- AC-1st,

AC-2T, AC-3T, Sleeper, AC chair car, first class and second class. Railway set up a fund in 1974 to give financial assistance to victims of railway accidents. As per the latest data Indian railway have more then 1.5 million employees The Indian railways have 7,817 engine, 46,119 coaches and 2, 28,170 wagons. The steam engines are being phased out and diesel and electric locomotives are being introduced.

As on 31st march 2004 there were 45 steam, 4,769 diesel and 3003 electric locomotives. India’s first metro railway was opened in kolkata on 24th October, 1984.

Rajasthan’s prestigious tourist train Palace on wheels, renamed the royal orient express, extended to Gujarat and the responsibility of its operation handed over to the tourism corporation of Gujarat.

About 27 % of the total route km on the Indian railway is electrified. Computerized reservation increased to 92%. Prestigious Konkan railway (760 km) project has been commissioned. A new rail coach to run at a speed of 160 km per hour but 25% lighter than the conventional bogies

has been developed by rail coach factory, Kapurthala. On November 23, 1999, after a gap of 25 years a direct train link with Bangladesh was reopened. On December 24, 2002, metro train service started in New Delhi.

STORY OF CONVERTABILITY FROM LOSS

EARNERS TO PROFIT EARNERS

Indian railways are managed under public sector. The primary objective of Indian railway

is to provide welfare to the societies. For the long period of time in the past railway was

suffering from huge losses.

But from last two years this railway became a profitability undertaking. This sudden change has attracted the attention of whole managers and various economists. That how it may be possible? This magical incident becomes possible due to following reasons:

1. Excellent management under laloo Prasad yadav : Laloo Prasad Yadav became rail minister of India in UPA government in 2004.when laloo Prasad yadav took the this responsibility then every one was in belief that to managed the railway is not capacity of laloo Prasad yadav.but he managed the entire the rail network very efficiently and he has done that work which was not imagine by any one. In 2005-06 railways given the 13,000 Cr profit and in the 2006-07 its profit reaches to 20,000 Cr Rs. Under the excellent administration of laloo yadav. Laloo Prasad yadav runs railway not as a minister but as a business guru. He applied various tricks which contributed towards income of railway without making effect on overall passengers fare.Example: Indian railway increased the cancellation charged of traveling ticket from 20 to 40 without increasing

the overall fare amount as a result when a passenger cancels the ticket he loose Rs 40 as a cancellation charge which adds to the profit of the railways but without hurting or irritating to any of passengers.

2. Optimum use of capacity : The past rulers were not using the full capacity of rails. This was the laloo yadav under who’s control this drawback minimized to some extent. As he started many cargo trains as double Decker.

So that they can carry much commodity or luggage at once in the same overhead expenses. Such proper utilization of capacity increased savings by reducing average costs.

3. Growth in production and transportation of industrialized Goods: In India many industrial units are increasing in the size as well as in the respect of volume of production. Such produce needs market for selling the railway having large network and huge carrying capacity is suitable for the smooth mobility of such commodities like heavy machines, building material such a cement iron rods.So that they prefer to carry their commodity by rail which in turn leads to the earnings of the railways as a payment of freight charges.

PROBLEMS OF INDIAN RAILWAYS

In spite of all various advantage and specialties, we can not ignore that there are many serious drawback of Indian railways. They are as follows:

Outdated technology of locomotive :The rail engines used to run the trains are very old and outdated technology. So they require much maintains and they do not give proper return, as they do not perform efficiently. There is immediate need to change the engines by new and updated ones.

Small and inadequate rail networks :As India is world’s second largest rail networks country but if we look by considering requirements of economy and size of country then it is not enough. Further India’s population which is increasing leads pressure on such

facility. So there must be extension in the rail networks as per the demand and requirements.

Problem of financial crunch : The railway is facing the problem of financial crunch. The conventional methods of increasing the net revenue, like rising of tariffs and expenditure control are inadequate for generating the levels of investment required.

Problem of social responsibilities : As the primary objective of the railway is welfare of public. So it has to operate a number of unremunarative lines, for example:

Railway provides concession to students in the journey ticket fare up to 50% and for senior citizens up to 30%. Such reduction in fare results in losses to the railway industry.

Often essential goods like food grains, fruits and vegetables have to be carried at losses.

CHAPTER-5

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

IRCTC’S RANGE OF PRODUCTS & SERVICES

· Luxury Tourist Trains· Exclusive Steam & Hill Charters· Chartering of special trains & coaches over the IR network· Tour Packages · Bharat Darshan –Special tourist trains for the budget travel segment· Budget Hotels – near important railway stations all over India· Car rentals · E-ticketing for travel over Indian Railways · Call Centers – for rail & tourism related information · On-board catering on trains all over the IR network · Multi-cuisine food plazas at important railway stations · Rail Neer – packaged drinking water

Availability of this wide range of services under its own umbrella puts IRCTC in the unique position of being able to offer readymade as well as customized packages to meet the requirements of all segments of the travel & tourism industry.

LUXURY TOURIST TRAINS

IRCTC works with IR & other public & private organizations, in the tourism sector, for running of luxury trains over the Indian Railway network. Besides the existing trains, a number of new trains are planned to be launched in the coming year.

These include – Existing Trains:-

· Palace on Wheels · Deccan Odyssey · Heritage on Wheels · Fairy Queen

Forthcoming Trains:-

· Splendour of Punjab (Covering major tourist attractions in North India including Delhi, Amritsar, Dharamshala/ McleodGanj, Patiala, Kurukshetra, Agra, Jaipur)

· Karnataka Circuit (Covering Bangalore, Mysore, Hampi, Bellary/Hospet, Pattadal, Thekkady Animal Sanctuary, Kerala Backwaters, Goa Beaches)

· Southern Splendour (Covering tourist attractions in Southern India including Chennai/ Mahabalipuram, Pondicherry, Kanyakumari, Tirupati, Thanjavur, Nilgiri Hill Railway, Kerala Backwaters, Bangalore)

MOUNTAIN RAILWAY STEAM/DIESEL CHARTERS

IRCTC offers charters on a number of scenic mountain railway sections including:-· DHR - Darjeeling Hill Railway – UNESCO world heritage railway (Steam/ Diesel) · NMR - Nilgiri Mountain Railway (Steam/ Diesel) · KS - Kalka – Simla Railway (Steam/ Diesel) · KV - Kangra Valley Railway (Diesel) · The Neral – Matheran Railway (Diesel)

TOURIST CARS

IRCTC offers luxury tourist cars for smaller groups. These are air conditioned cars with kitchenettes and modern comforts providing the luxury of a hotel on wheels.

TRAIN & COACH CHARTERS

IRCTC organizes train & rail coach charters over Indian Railway for the convenience of tourists travelling in large groups.

TOUR PACKAGES

IRCTC runs tour packages all over India, covering a variety of tourist interests & requirements. These packages are primarily run on an all inclusive basis, including rail travel, road travel, hotel accommodation, sightseeing as well as onboard & off board hospitality.

BUDGET HOTELS

IRCTC is setting up 100 budget hotels at important railway stations all over India on a Private – Public Partnership basis. These will be built & operated by reputed hotel groups and will provide quality accommodation with modern facilities for the budget traveler. IRCTC welcomes domestic/international investments in this area from established hotel operators.

BHARAT DARSHAN (Special Tourist Trains for the economy Traveler)

These trains cater to economy traveler and run to customized itineraries covering places of cultural, historical & religious interest. The package includes rail travel, road transport, boarding & lodging arrangements, local sightseeing.

CALL CENTER

IRCTC is in the process of setting up an all India call center for providing train & tourism service related information & bookings

BROAD VISION(R)'S

Enterprise business portal applications, now enables Indian Railway train tickets to be purchased from anywhere in the world and have the tickets delivered to their doorstep. Using Broad Vision applications, IRCTC now provides Indian Railways passengers with convenient online booking. Passengers can check train fares, routes and availability in real-time and receive alerts about rail schedules. In addition, passengers can subscribe to an alert service that advises them about PNR status at fixed intervals. In the future, IRCTC intends to expand its travel portal to leverage Broad Vision’s advanced personalization capabilities to the fullest extent. In the next phase, IRCTC's travel portal will add other tourism and reservation touch-points and expand ticket delivery services to all major cities in India. Security remains the primary concern of on-line consumers. IRCTC is a VeriSign Secure Site. VeriSign protects the confidential information entered by the customers including Credit card details.

CHAPTER-6

NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES

INTRODUCTION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Railways established their own intra-net 'Railnet'. It envisages networking between Railway Board, Zonal Headquarters, Divisional headquarters, Production Units, Training Centres etc. LAN/WAN is being provided in all Divisional Headquarters to derive full benefits of Railnet.

IRCTC has begun operations in the ticket booking venture. Passengers can now order tickets online by logging into the IRCTC website. The tickets are delivered on their doorstep by IRCTC after verification of the recipient.

Services offered by IRCTC on the Internet

Advance booking in any class, against general and ladies quota, on payment of fare in full for adults and children, a maximum of six berths/seats at a time, for journey between any two stations served by a train subject to distance restrictions in force.

Booking on payment of concessional fare by senior citizens to all stations mentioned here by any train and in any class.

General enquiries regarding:

o Accommodation available for a train/date combination o Current Status of reservation position o Time table o Train fare o Trains available between a pair of stations

Courier delivery of booked tickets.

Collection of tickets by customers from designated collection centre.

Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd (Advanced Ticketing Service on the Net)

Gone are the days when one has to wait in a Long Queue for hours, with a token number allocated, to buy the Railway Tickets.

When you are on the NET Browse into IRCTC site , REGISTER once, give your personal details (Name, Address, Age, Sex etc.), get your Username and password entered. Now you are having a web-enabled ticketing counter right at your Door-steps. The Ticket reaches you by Courier promptly within 24 Hours. You have three options: 

o collect the ticket personally, o have it delivered through courier or,  o collect it before boarding the train o Call the IRCTC-CARE in case of problems, they will provide you all information/help. It

is a thrilling experience, very advanced, the state-of-the-art technology, and of course, India Railways have been always experimenting with new technologies

Call the IRCTC-CARE in case of problems, they will provide you all information/help. It is a thrilling experience, very advanced, the state-of-the-art technology, and of course, India Railways have been always experimenting with new technologies

THE CHARTER SCHEMES

There are three different plans under the charter schemes they have launched. Firstly, they offer the entire train on charter, whose schedule can then be altered to suit needs of the chartering party. Secondly, the offer of private players and tour operators chartering entire coaches has really gained ground with leading tour operators like Kesari tours, who have signed year-long contracts engaging one coach twice a week to Delhi. The third option is naturally buying out a fixed number of seats on a particular train for a fixed period of six months or a year. They have already signed contracts with operators like Thomas Cook and Cox and Kings to this effect.

BETTER PASSENGER SERVICES

Allocation for passenger amenities put at Rs 200 crore. 285 stations identified to be developed as model stations. Time Table for Summer Special trains has been introduced since last year to facilitate advance information and reservation by passengers. It is published in February/March every year.

Internet based enquiry system for information on train timetable and status of passenger reservation has been made operational for public. A National Train Enquiry System (NTES) has been introduced for disseminating real-time information regarding

passenger trains through terminals and Inter-Active Voice Response System (TELEPHONE). Catering and Tourism Promotion

Other Steps

Revision of license fee to bring uniformity and more professionalism in catering services. Revenue earning on this account increased from 10.83 crore in 1998-99 to Rs 22 crore in 2000-01. It is expected to touch the level of Rs 50 crore in the current financial year. Departmental catering earnings also increased from Rs 7.67 crore in 1998-99 to Rs 15.08 crore in 2000-01. Size for catering/vending stalls at platforms has been standardized, to provide free movement to the passengers.

About 1000 stalls over Indian Railways have been reconstructed and 1,500 stalls will be replaced in the current financial year. Automatic Vending Machines for dispensing cold and hot beverages have been provided to make platforms free from cooking and to control pollution. This has also helped in maintaining hygiene, cleanliness and quality of products. Sale of Bidi/Cigarettes at stations and in trains is prohibited. Joint ventures with State Tourism Corporations to provide comprehensive tourist packages, which will include fare, boarding, lodging and sight seeing charges. MoU signed between Ministry of Railways and Maharashtra Tourism Corporation for running new luxury trains similar to Palace on Wheels on Mumbai-Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg-Goa-Pune-Aurangabad-Ajanta & Ellora-Nasik-Mumbai route. IRCTC and KTDC will be jointly launching special tour package for Kerala on the lines of Mata Vaishnao Devi package shortly.

Promotion of Domestic Tourism

The IRCTC has decided to set up 100 budget hotels in all cities holding attraction to the inbound or domestic tourist. Work on this project is underway with areas short-listed. This will enable all rail travellers to book tickets at their own convenience in the comfort of their homes or offices through the website that will be functional 24 hours of the day. Payment can be made via the net through the use of credit cards and tickets can be collected directly on the train.There are three different plans under the charter schemes that IRCTC has launched.

Firstly, IRCTC offers the entire train on charter, whose schedule can then be altered to suit needs of the chartering party. Secondly, the offer of private players and tour operators chartering entire coaches has really gained ground with leading tour operators like Kesari tours, who have signed year-long contracts engaging one coach twice a week to Delhi. The third option is naturally buying out a fixed number of seats on a particular train for a fixed period of six moths or a year. IRCTC has already signed contracts with operators like Thomas Cook and Cox and Kings to this effect.As part of its long-term strategy towards organizational reforms and restructuring, the Indian Railways (IR) has made serious attempts to induct professionalism into their stream and divest its peripheral areas of operation connected to its core business of transport.The marketing wing of the IR namely the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) is currently working on certain policies, on accommodating private parties from the travel trade fraternity to participate in their joint ventures to promote

tourism in the country. Earlier, the IRCTC had also announced their interest working on JVs with the organised sector of the hospitality industry. This move comes at a time, when the railway authorities have decided to make their presence felt in the tourism scenario as the largest passenger transport company of the country.

PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION

IRCTC is carefully working out certain schemes and venues for the travel industry to participate in their endeavors. They are also offering more facilities by a way of providing tour packages in association with tour operators and agencies, and would also open group booking facilities for tourists. A strong tourism strategy will soon find its place in the system through dedicated tourist trains, rail coaches and regular trains on sectors developed by tour operator and agencies.

IRCTC is also plans to develop circuits in the religious, historic, business-cum-leisure segments. IRCTC is also open to booking of charted trains, special trains and their keenness in providing exclusive carriages and coaches that can be attached to regular trains according to the tourist convenience or programme. In order to accommodate the tourists, IRCTC is now looking at upgrading their existing properties. These are in the conceptual stages of implementing things and the travel trade fraternity has to join hands with them for a long-term business relationship as well as for mutual benefit.

The plans are that once the corporation starts making profits, the railway could also go in for a joint venture with either the private sector or with government corporations such as the Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

IRCTC Front End Architecture

• Three tier architecture• IIS 6.0 on Windows 2003• Broad vision 7.1 AB Enterprise Edition on Windows 2000. Advanced Sever at

Application Servers Layer• Oracle 10g Enterprise Edition on Linux AS 4.0 Server with Oracle RAC at Database

Server Layer• Protected by Checkpoint Firewalls at PRS (Connectivity and with Internet)• Mail Gateway Protection with Trend/Micro Interscan Messaging Security Suite (IMSS)• CA and Symantec Antivirus systems for servers and desktops

Payment Options

• Credit Card Payment Gateway• Debit Card / Net Banking• Cash Cards (For users who don’t have Credit Cards or don’t want to expose their cards

details on the Internet)

CHAPTER-7

ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS

TOURISM

During the year, the Corporation undertook the following tourism business:. Rail Tour Packages : During 2008-09, a total of 23,768 berths have been sold as against 7,077 berths during the previous year.. Land Tour Packages : During the year 7,891 packages have been sold as against 1,646 packages during the previous year.. 159 Train / Coach charters were undertaken by the Corporation as against 51 Charters during the previous year.. 18,801 persons were booked on Village on Wheels . Bharat Darshan Trains as against 14,890 persons during the previous year.

MAHAPARINIRVAN EXPRESS, BUDDHIST CIRCUIT SPECIAL TRAIN

During its second season, the train has gained popularity with an increase of almost 200% in turnover. It has been bestowed with the National Tourism Award in February, 2009 as the .Most InnovativeTourism Product.

BHARAT DARSHAN

All the three Bharat Darshan rakes are now being operated and marketed by IRCTC

TOURISM PORTAL

IRCTC.s tourism portal www.railtourismindia.com is fast growing into a one stop travel shop which will meet all the travel & tourism needs of a customer. Online booking of hotels across the country was launched on 6th December, 2008 and is becoming increasingly popular with over 3000 hotels being available across the Country.

EDUCATIONAL TOURS:

During the year IRCTC has made a successful foray into educational tours and almost 23,000 students availed the facility to various destinations.

LUXURY TOURIST TRAIN

During the year, IRCTC finalized plans for owning and operating a Pan India Luxury Train. Order has been placed with ICF/ Chennai for manufacturing of the Train Shells and a leading 5 Star Hotel designer has been engaged for designing of the interior of the train. IRCTC has setup a joint venturewith M/s Cox & Kings India Ltd. for managing the train. The train has been officially unveiled at the ITB Berlin in March, 2009. The train is expected to become operational by January 2010.

INTERNET TICKETING

During the year 2008-09, the number of tickets booked through IRCTC website www.irctc.co.in has gone upto 4.41 Crore tickets as against 1.89 Crore tickets booked during the previous year. The value of tickets booked has gone upto Rs.3889 crore during the year as against Rs. 1705 crore during the previous year. Ticket bookings touched a daily high of 2,26,925 tickets. In recognition of the excellent performance of this website, EMPI . Indian Express Indian Innovation Award 2008-2009 and CNBC Awaaz - Special commendation for redefining Indian Railways Award 2009 have been conferred on it.

INTEGRATED TRAIN ENQUIRY SYSTEM (139-RAIL SAMPARK CALL CENTRE)

IRCTC had taken up the project for launch of Integrated Train Enquiry System- Rail Sampark 139 with the objective of providing State of the Art enquiry services to Railway Passengers all over the country.This was a pioneering PPP project where the call centre was taken on a revenue model rather than on a cost model. This project has brought about a sea change in the quality of enquiry services available to Rail Passengers across the country. Work is on for launch of various value added & premium services also. In recognition of the unique nature of the service, it was conferred with the .PC Quest - Most Innovative Project Award 2009.

ANALYSIS (in short)

1.(a) The Company has maintained proper records showing full particulars including quantitative details and location of fixed assets.

(b) There is a system of physical verification, once a year by the management having regard to the size of the Company and the nature of fixed assets. No material discrepancies have been noticed in respect of the assets physically verified during the year by the management. (c) The company has not disposed off any substantial part of its fixed assets during the year on the basis of security by way of pledge of shares, debentures and other securities

2. (a) Inventories have been physically verified during the year by the management. In my opinion, the frequency of verification is reasonable.

(b) The procedures of physical verification of inventories followed by the management are adequate in relation to the size and the nature of its business.

(c) The Company is maintaining proper records of inventory. The discrepancies noticed on Verification between the physical stocks and book records were not material and have been properly dealt with in the books of account

CHAPTER-8

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS

During the year 2008-09, the Corporation achieved a total income of Rs. 618.77 Crores as compared to Rs.527.66 Crores in 2007-08 thereby registering a growth of 17.30 %. The increase was achieved in spite of the fact that bed roll and cleaning business has been transferred back to Railways. The major increase in the income in the year 2008-09 over previous year was achieved due to licensee catering (from Rs. 289.20Crores to Rs. 341.02 Crores), quantum jump in internet ticketing (from Rs. 39.18 Crores to Rs.74.81 Crores) and tourism activities (from Rs. 9.72 Crores to Rs. 27.94 Crores). The income of licence catering increased on account of higher number of units put on tender, efficient tendering system and increase in licence fee from static units. Quantum jump in internet ticketing was witnessed due to good marketing efforts, upgraded infrastructure and improved customer care. The growth in tourism business was achieved due to IRCTC.s foray into educational tour business, tour package business take over of Bharat Darshan trains by IRCTC. A net profit of Rs. 46.50 Crores was earned during 2008-09 as compared to Rs. 20.75 Crores in 2007-08 due to enhanced revenue and control on expenditure. An amount of Rs.30.00 Crore has been provided as Haulage Charges as was provided during the previous year. As at 31st March 2009, the Reserves and Surplus of the Corporation stood at Rs.94.46 Crore. The Net Worth went up from Rs. 78.85 Crore during the previous year to Rs.114.46 Crore during the year under review. Profit earned by the Corporation has been appropriated in the following manner:(Rs. in Crore)

Particulars/Year ending 31st March, 2009 31st March, 2008Profit Before Tax 73.85 32.97Provision For Tax 27.42 11.00Provision for fringe benefit tax 0.65 00.50Deferred Tax (0.72) 00.72Profit after Tax 46.50 20.75Profit brought forward 8.93 9.04

Tax adjustment for the prior yearsDeferred Tax for Previous year Nil Transfer to Reserves 35.00 16.00Dividend (Including Dividend Tax) 10.89 4.86

Profit carried forward to Balance Sheet 9.54 8.93

CONTRIBUTION TO REVENUES OF RAILWAYS During the year the Corporation contributed a sum of Rs.76.26 crore to the revenues of Indian Railways as against a sum of Rs. 62.76 Crore during the previous year. Contribution to the Revenues of Railways comprises Haulage Charges, Concession fee, License fee, User Charges and Dividend. The sharing of revenues with the various Zonal Railways has been made in terms of Memorandum of Understanding dated 17th January,2007. In addition to the above, tickets worth Rs.3888.82 Crore were booked during the year as against Rs.1705.03 Crore during the previous year.

BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

Mobile Catering - LicenseeIRCTC has completely taken over the trains with pantry cars running on Indian Railways network. The contracts for 97 trains without pantry cars including 19 Garib Raths Trains have been finalized and made operational during the year. As on 31.3.2009, the Corporation was managing catering services in 255 trains with the break up as follows:-(i) 14 Rajdhani(ii) 13 Shatabdi(iii) 16 Sampark Kranti(iv) 16 Janshatabdi(v) 196 Mail Express TrainsIn the year 2008-09, catering licenses in 16 new mail/express trains and 55 new TSV trains licenses were awarded.

Static Catering - Licensee349 contracts of AVM kiosks for sale of hot and cold beverages on various railway stations and 95 milk stalls have been awarded by IRCTC during the year. Local products like Petha, Peda, Pop-corn, etc. have also been awarded. 1138 stalls under General Minor Units category were put on tender, during the year. During the year, six new food plazas became operational taking the total operational food plazas to 57 andlicenses for 36 more food plazas at various Railway Stations were awarded by the Corporation.

Departmental CateringFour Rajdhani trains and four mail/express trains were operational as on 31.3.09. Patna Rajdhani train was taken over under departmental operation from August 2008. Total 518 stalls and 419 trolleys were under departmental operation during the year.The departmental catering during the year 2008-09 has suffered a loss of Rs.54.98 crores. This has been primarily on the following two accounts:-(a) Higher material cost due to increased raw material prices.

(b) Higher HR cost.

OUTSTANDING DUESComparative position of the outstanding dues is as follows:-(Rs. in Crore)Particulars As on 31.3.2009 as on 31.03.2008Railways 154.71 116.79Non Railway 85.01 75.28Total 239.72 192.07During the year, the Sundry Debtors increased from Rs.192.07 crore to Rs.239.72 crores, However, amount of Rs.63.82 crore was realized in the first week of April, 2009 by way of instruments dated 31stMarch, 2009. The same has been accounted in the books of accounts during April, 2009

QUALITY CONTROL AND COMPLAINT REDRESSAL SYSTEM

.To maintain quality of services onboard trains, IRCTC has set up control rooms at New Delhi, Mumbai,Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad. These Zonal Controls have been strengthened and equipped with phone, fax & PC with broadband connectivity, and are operational around the clock, seven days a week. Central Control office at New Delhi regularly coordinates with all the five zonal offices for effective monitoring of the complaints & catering activities. A toll free no. 1800-111-139 has been launched for swift redressal of complaints & suggestions conveyed by passengers on phone. Passengers can call this no. from train as well without any charges & register their grievance /suggestion.In order to facilitate another option of lodging complaint /suggestion by passenger, facility of receipt ofcomplaint through SMS on phone number 9971-111-139 has been started. This enablepassengers to have easy access to the complaints redressal system without any other charges. Quality Control Professionals having Diploma/Degree holders in hospitality with 2 or more years of fieldexperience were inducted/engaged in August, 2008 & posted in Zonal & Regional offices. Specific trains have been allotted to them for achieving overall improvements in on board services. M/s TUV SUD South Asia, the multinational food audit & certification agency has been enlisted for third party audit on food hygiene & safety audit. Total of 181 mobile units were covered in year 2008-09.Overall improvement of 8.47% has been noticed in IRCTC related aspects which include cleaning &sanitation, food storage, personal hygiene, personal practices, presentation etc.In the food audit reports submitted by M/s TUV SUD short term, medium term & long term recommendations with implementation period of 1 week, 3-4 weeks and 8 weeks respectively have been made for achieving further improvement in food hygiene & safety, which have been implemented/ are under implementation.

DIVIDEND

Keeping in view the financial results, the Board of Directors recommended interim dividend of Rs.4.00 Crore. The Board of Director have now recommended a Total Dividend of Rs.9.31 Crore (Approximately 20 % of the Net Profit) including interim dividend for the year 2008-09.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

As on 31st March 2009, paid-up share capital of the Corporation stood at Rs.20.00 Crore. The Government of India holds the entire paid up share capital of the Corporation. During the year, there was no change in the paid-up share capital.

PERFORMANCE MONITORING & REVIEWSFormal monthly reviews would be scheduled between the Service Partner and IRCTC.The objective of the review would be to assess the performance of the previous month.Service Partner would be required to present the performance of previous month with detailed root cause analysis and suggested action plans for improvement. IRCTC will communicate the schedule of reviews to the Service Provider 7 days in advance for due readiness.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

General description of the defined benefit schemes:(i) Gratuity: Payable on separation@ 15 days pay for each completed year of service to eligible employees who render continuous service of 5 years or more. The gratuity ceiling of Rs.10 Lac as against the earlier limit of Rs.3.50 Lac has been considered for actuarial valuation based on the second pay revision committee report.

(ii) Leave Encashment: Payable on separation to eligible employees who have accumulated earned leave. Leave salary is provided for based on valuations, as at the balance sheet date, made by independent actuary.

(iii) Provident Fund: 12 % of the Basic Pay plus Dearness Allowance of Employees and equivalent Contribution of the Corporation is contributed to the Provident Fund maintained with the RegionalProvident Fund Commissioner, New Delhi. Corporations contribution to provident fund is charged to revenue.

(iv) Foreign Service Contribution: Foreign service contribution payable for leave salary and pension in respect of deputationists including deemed deputationists (employees who have joined thecorporation on deputation for a fixed period from Indian Railways) for the year 2008-2009 in terms of Government rules and regulations is charged to revenue on accrual basis.

IRCTC PROFIT DOUBLES

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has recorded a growth of 17.3 per cent in total income during 2008-09. The total income of the company has increased to Rs 618.8 crore from Rs 527.7 crore a year earlier.

IRCTC has reported profit after tax of Rs 46.5 crore for 2008-09, against Rs 20.75 crore in 2007-08. The company has declared a dividend of 46 per cent. It contributed Rs 76.3 crore to the revenues of Indian Railways, against Rs 62.8 crore the previous year.Ministry sources revealed the number of tickets booked through IRCTC has gone up to 44.1 million as against 18.9 million tickets the previous year. The value of tickets booked online through it has gone up by 128 per cent, to Rs 3,889 crore from Rs 1,705 crore in 2007-08.To improve the quality of catering, IRCTC has set up control rooms at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad. And a toll-free number for redressal of complaints.

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS (in short)

The company has not incurred cash loss in the current year and in the immediate preceding financial year .

The Company has not raised any loan from any financial institutions, banks or debenture holders; as such the question of default does not arise.

The Company has not granted any loans and advances

As the Company is not dealing or trading in shares, securities, debentures and other investments, the provision of clause 4(xiv) of the Companies (Auditors Report Order, 2003) is not applicable to the Company.

The Company has not given guarantees on behalf of its dealers and subsidiaries.

The Company has not taken any term loans during the year.

According to the information and explanations given, the Company has not borrowed any short-term borrowings for long-term use.

CHAPTER-9

OPINION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

OPINION

In my opinion, and according to the information and explanations given to me, there are adequate internal control procedures commensurate with the size of the Company and the nature of its business with regard to purchase of stores, raw materials including components, packing materials, plant and machinery, equipment and other assets and with regard to sale of goods and services. There is no major weakness found in the internal control procedures.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Proper attention may be given on the promotional activities especially during the start of the peak season.

Awareness programs may be launched by the company so that the retailers may know about the varieties of the services rendered.

Proper training to the new arrivals or new employees must be given.

Tour packages should be for every class.

Seek more tie ups and mergers.

Gap between Distribution point and customer point may be minimized.

More distributors may be introduced so that they can maintain a proper distribution channel.

Active work involvement has to take place for some inactive state

Gap between supply and demand may be minimized.

CHAPTER-10

BIBLOGRAPHY AND REFRENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFRENCES

10.1 BOOKS:

General Knowledge at a glance by R.Gupta. I.C.A.I Economic book.

Economic TimesFinancial Express

Annual report of IRCTC (2008-09) Records at IRCTC

10.2 WEBSITE:-

www.irctc.com www.irctc.co.in www.railtourismindia.com www.google.com