Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the railways.

1. BUSINESS POLICY & STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT
Of
IRCTC
prgyaratan1@gmail.com
+91-9716225449

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER-1
Introduction to the Company
Organization structure
Manpower
Services
Main business activities
Company’s Vision ,Mission & Objectives
Awards & Achievements
CHAPTER-2
External Environmental analysis
Porter’s Five forces analysis
SWOT Analysis
7P’s of IRCTC service marketing
Gap Analysis
CHAPTER-3
IRCTC catering business analysis
Current trends in Industry
Role of technology in catering
Major players in the industry
Competitors
Tangibility spectrum

3. Service offering
Analysis of IRCTC Catering
Recommended Organizational & Business Strategies
CHAPTER-4
IRCTC Tourism business analysis
IRCTC’S range of products and services
Current trends in Industry
Role of technology in catering
Major players in the industry
Competitors
Tangibility spectrum
Service offering
Service quality dimensions
Industry section
CHAPTER-5
IRCTC online ticketing business analysis
Current trends in Industry
Role of technology in catering
Major players in the industry
Competitors
Tangibility spectrum
Service offering
Service quality dimensions
Industry section

4. CHAPTER-6
Future plans of IRCTC
REFERENCES

5. CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. has been set up by the Ministry of
Railways with 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 will be the specific vehicle for achieving high growth
in coordination with state agencies, tour operators, travel agents and the hospitality industry. A
dynamic marketing strategy in association with public and private agencies, tour operators,
transporters, hoteliers and local tour promoters is on the anvil. Indian Railways span global
volumes in hospitality and catering sectors with services provided to 13 million passengers
everyday. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a Public Sector
Enterprise under Ministry of Railways. IRCTC was incorporated on 27th September, 1999 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.
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation
Type Subsidiaryof the Indian Railways
Industry Railways
Headquarters New Delhi,NCT, India
Area served India

6. Products e-ticketing
Services Catering,Tourism and Online Ticketing
Parent Indian Railways
Website https://irctc.co.in/
While discharging its mandate, the Company has made a significant mark in its passenger-
services oriented business lines like setting up of Food Plazas on Railway premises, ‘Railneer',
Rail Tour Packages and ‘Internet Ticketing' bringing great deal of professionalism into the
operations. In addition to above, IRCTC is managing on Board Catering Services in Rajdhani /
Shatabdi / Duronto and Mail / Express Trains and Static Catering Units such as Refreshment
Rooms, AVMs, Book Stalls, Milk Stalls, Ice Cream Stalls, Petha & Peda Stalls etc. across the
Indian Railway Network.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
Corporate Office of IRCTC is situated at New Delhi , which is headed by the Managing Director.
Managing Director is being assisted by three Directors, Director(Catering Services),
Director(Tourism & Marketing) and Director(Finance) and nine Group General Managers.
For smooth operations of the business across all over the country, five Zonal Offices are working
at Delhi , Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai & Secunderabad. South Zone Office is headed by
Regional Director and all other Zonal Offices are headed by Group General Managers. All
Group General Managers have vast experience of working in Indian Railways. These Zonal
Offices are assisted by ten Regional Offices at Lucknow , Chandigarh , Jaipur, Bhubneshwar,
Guwahati, Patna , Bhopal , Ahemedabad, Bangalore and Ernakulam, which are headed by Chief
Regional Managers / Regional Managers.
MANPOWER
At present IRCTC has 4453 employees on its roll. The employees comprise of IRCTC Direct
Employees, Deemed Deputation absorbees, Deemed Deputationists, deputationists and fixed
term employees. For bringing professionalism in the work culture, IRCTC has recruited
professionals in different field like HR, Tourism, Catering and Finance, through direct
recruitment or campus recruitment.

7. SERVICES
 Online ticketing
It is known for changing the face of railway ticketing in India. It pioneered internet-based rail
ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via GPRS or SMS. In
addition to e-tickets, Indian Railways and Catering Tourism Corporation also offers I-tickets that
are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked online and delivered by post. The
tickets PNR status is also made available. Commuters on the Mumbai Suburban Railway can
also book season tickets through the website. It has also launched a loyalty program called Shubh
Yatra for frequent travellers. Through this program, passengers can avail of discounts on all
tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.
Seeking to make it easier to book e-tickets, It launched a scheme called Rolling Deposit Scheme
(RDS). RDS is a hassle-free e-ticket booking scheme allowing passengers to reserve seats
against advance money kept with the corporation. It has also added flights and hotels booking
facilities to their line of online reservation services.
 Tourism
Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation also organises budget and deluxe package tours for
domestic and foreign tourists. A popular tourism package for budget tourists covering important
tourist destinations across India is "Bharat Darshan". Luxury tourism packages are also available,
that involve special luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Royal Orient Express, Golden
Chariot, Deccan Odyssey, Royal Rajasthan on Wheels, Buddhist Circuit Train and it is a partner
in the Maharajas' Express operation.
Apart from conventional tourism, it also offers adventure tourism packages that include water
sports, adventure and wildlife treks, etc. A provision for customising tours as per specific
requirements is also an added attraction. Recently a new venture of Indian Railways, named as
RailTourismIndia has launched to provide direct catering and tourism packages to users.
 Tatkal Booking
Under the Tatkal scheme, passengers who plan their journey at short notice can book their tickets
in almost all Mail/Express trains through the Indian railways internet portal. The booking starts
at 10:00 am daily for AC coach reservation and for NON-AC timing is residual to 11 am , one
day prior to the departure of the train from source station. Tatkal Reservation is criticised by
numerous media releases, due to its inefficiency and slow server speed. Many IT expert suggests
that simple steps are not being taken by the Indian Railways management which can easily
resolve these issues and some time these are being linked to corruption in the entire ticketing
system. Tatkal E-ticket can be booked for selected trains one day in advance excluding date of
journey from the train originating station. It can be booked on the opening day from 10:00 AM
onwards for AC coach and 11:00 AM onwards for NON-AC. Passengers travelling on Tatkal
tickets should carry a photo ID proof along with them to be shown to the ticket checker. Earlier

8. this year, the website has launched Lite version which doesn't include ads, pop ups, etc. and
check pnr status
MAIN BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
IRCTC's main business activities are :
On Board Catering Services and Static catering units on the Indian Railway Network
Hospitality Services covers on board catering services in the trains, catering services at stations
through stalls, food plazas/fast food units & Automatic Vending Machines commissioned at A, B
& C class of Railway stations.
IRCTC is managing currently 19 Rajdhani, 13 Shatabdi, 16 Jan Shatabdi, 6 Duronto Express , 9
Garib Raths, 205 Mail/Express trains and 118 trains have train side vending facility. IRCTC has
currently 53 Food Plazas, 13 Fast Food units and 1 Quick Service Food Kiosks, 677 Automated
Vending Machine , 2950 Stalls, 3291 Trolleys & Khomchas , 698 Book Stalls, 249 Milk Stall &
7918 Static units spread over 1008 no. of Special A, A, B & C Category of Stations over Indian
Railways network.
Manufacturing Packaged Drinking Water for Indian Railway Passengers
Two plants of Railneer packaged drinking water are operating at Nangloi ( Delhi ) and Danapur (
Bihar ).The capacity of the plants was increased from 5,500 cartons per day to 8,500 cartons per
day during March, 2009 for Nangloi Plant and during December, 2009 of Danapur Plant.
New Rail Neer plants: For Southern Region, Rail Neer Plant of 15,000 cartons per day is being
set up at Palur near Chennai. Tender has been awarded and physical work for setting up building
is in advance stage. For Western region, architect and plant consultants have been appointed for
Rail Neer plant at Ambernath near Mumbai. The rated capacity of the plant is 25,000 cartons per
day.
Managing the Departmental Catering units, taken over from Indian Railways
Four 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.
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

9. 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 of complaint through SMS on phone number 9971-111-139 has been started. This will
enable the traveling passengers 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 field experience 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.
Food Safety Audit
An improved understanding of the risk based approach and growing awareness about the impact
of food safety on public health has led to make significant changes to their food control system
in recent years.
Keeping in view the importance of food safety and other related issues of the food preparation
and serving areas on static/mobile catering units, food safety & hygiene audit were performed
against the criteria including cleaning and sanitation, food storage, personal hygiene, personal
practices, presentation applicable to IRCTC and infrastructure and pest control applicable to
Railways.
Expansion of passenger ticketing and PRS network through Internet / modern technology
based ticketing.
IRCTC provides tickets to the public in the comforts of their home/residence instead of visiting
the Railway Reservation Centers for booking. The delivery of tickets is made either through the
courier or a person can himself take the print out for travelling. On an average more than
2,03,000 tickets are sold through IRCTC's website in a day. By doing this, IRCTC is not only
saving the time of the public but also saving their cost of travelling to these centers. For
Railways it is saving on their infrastructure like buildings, air-conditioning, electricity, furniture,
staff etc. The spirit behind the project was that instead of the customers going to Passenger
Reservation System (PRS), the PRS should be brought to the customer.

10. Managing all India Railway Enquiry Call Centre
IRCTC is managing a Call Center for passenger enquiry. A customer can dial 139 from
anywhere in the country and get all information from Call Center related to train timing, PNR
confirmation, train routes and other relevant information related to Indian Railways.
Running of Special Train, Special Charters / Coach and promotion of Value added tours
Railway Tourism has seen excellent growth in India Right from IRCTC's inception, we have
undertaken dynamic marketing strategy with major tour operators and State Tourism as our
partners for providing exclusive tour packages across the country. At present IRCTC is providing
following Tourism services across India :
• Buddhist Circuit Special Train
IRCTC has designed a train for the Buddhist Circuit keeping in mind the profile of Buddhist
tourists. It covers important sites connected to life of Buddha and Agra : Bodh Gaya , Sarnath ,
Kushinagar , Lumbini , Shravasti , Rajgir , Nalanda. The train offers comprehensive on board
and off board services comprising of catering, housekeeping, hotel accommodation, road
transport, sightseeing, trained tourist guides, security, medical facilities, insurance etc. all
inclusive in the package. This train won the National Tourism Award in Feb., 2009
• Bharat Darshan – Village on Wheels
IRCTC is operating Bharat Darshan – Village on Wheels Train for Budget Traveller @ Rs
500/- per day (all inclusive package). The package includes Train journey, accommodation,
road transport, site seeing, meals etc. The itineraries range from 7 to 20 days covering major
tourist and religious places across India .
• Rail Tour Packages
IRCTC offers all Inclusive packages with confirmed Rail reservation, hotel accommodation,
road transportation, meals, sightseeing etc. At present over 70 packages for important tourist
destinations across India covering Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir,
Uttar Pradesh etc. are being operated.
• Hill Charters
The Steam trains are operated on Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Kangra Valley Railway,
Kalka-Shimla Railway and Nilgiri Mountain Railway. Hill charters showcase the special
characteristics of the respective hill sections with heritage stations, seasonal features, breath
taking scenery & adventure tourism. IRCTC offers single window value added services.
• Educational Tours

11. IRCTC offers Educational Tours Package with rich educational content and in a caring
environment for the students of educational institutions across the country. The facility is being
used by Kendriya Vidyala Sangathan, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal
and Delhi State Government Schools.
• Tourism Portal
IRCTC's tourism portal www.irctctourism.com , is the fast growing a one stop travel shop and
meet all the travel & tourism needs of a tourist. Online booking of tour packages, hotels and Car
Rental across the country is becoming increasingly popular through this National Tourism
Award winner tourism portal of IRCTC.
• Budget Hotel
IRCTC is planning to develop Budget Hotels through Public Private Partnership. Budget Hotels
are to be set up in the vicinity of railway stations for tourists and rail users. These Budget Hotels
will provide quality guestrooms with modern facilities, décor and ambience on affordable prices,
choice of food and beverage services and Web enabled reservation system.
At present four budget hotels are operational at New Delhi , Howrah , Puri & Ranchi in the
existing buildings.
• Luxury Tourist Train
IRCTC has set up a 50:50 JV Company, Royale India Train Tours Limited (RIRTL) in
Participation with M/s Cox & Kings India Limited. RIRTL will run Pan India Luxury Tourist
Train. Estimated Cost of the train is Rs.49.48 Crore. The Luxury Train named as Maharajas'
Express is owned by IRCTC. Marketing and operation of the Maharajas' Express would be done
by RIRTL. The train was officially unveiled at the ITB Berlin in March, 2009.
COMPANY’S VISION , MISSION & OBJECTIVES
Vision
"To be the leading provider of high quality travel, tourism and hospitality related services, for a
range of customer segments, with consistently high level of customer satisfaction."
Mission Statement
"Enhance customer services and facilitation in railway catering, hospitality, travel and tourism
with best industry practices".

12. Objectives
(i) To provide high quality catering services directly as well as through network of professionally
competitive licensees and franchisees.
(ii) To be a significant player in the hospitality business.
(iii) To produce bulk food manufacturing facilities like food factories etc.
(iv) To provide high quality package drinking water (Railneer).
(v) To promote tourism across the country especially for all segments of Rail Passengers.
(vi) To provide single window solution to its customers including train travel, road travel, air
travel, hospitality, hotel accommodation and catering etc.
(vii) To develop and operate Executive Lounges, Multi-functional complexes, budget hotels etc.
through participation by professionals.
(viii) To maintain leading position in internet ticketing, e-commerce and technology for
customers interface for railway passengers/ customers.
(ix) To be a technology driven customer oriented company through constant innovation and
human resource development.
(x) To promote private sector participation and expertise to improve quality of products and
services.

13. (xi) To imbibe strong customer friendly, professional and ethical work culture.
(xii) To adopt strong Corporate Governance practices and best and transparent industry practices.
(xiii) To work towards creation of additional infrastructure on Railway or non-railway premises
in their mandated line of business with a view to improve the Gross Block.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
Within short span of its going online, it had become the largest and the fastest-growing e-
commerce website in the Asia-Pacific region, with about six lakh registered users as of 2013.
Some of the other awards won by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation are:
 Won Website of the Year India Award 2014
 Won Dalal Street Investment Journal (DSIJ) PSU award 2014 for the Biggest E-
Commerce portal in India
 Won News Ink legend PSU Shining Awards 2014 in the category – Legend PSU of the
year for Customer Friendly Operations
 Conferred with Indian e-Retail Awards 2015, in the category “Leisure and Travel
eRetailer of the Year”
 IRCTC App Awarded In Best Use Of App Category In Mobillion Event

14. CHAPTER-2
THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
The external environments significantly have an impact on the company‟s strategic management
model. Environment analysis is a strategic tool. It is a process to identify all the external and
internal elements, which can affect the organization’s performance. The analysis entails
assessing the level of threat or opportunity the factors might present. These evaluations are later
translated into the decision-making process. The analysis helps align strategies with the firm’s
environment.Our market is facing changes every day. Many new things develop over time and
the whole scenario can alter in only a few seconds. There are some factors that are beyond your
control. But, you can control a lot of these things. Businesses are greatly influenced by their
environment. All the situational factors which determine day to day circumstances impact firms.
So, businesses must constantly analyze the trade environment and the market.
There are many strategic analysis tools that a firm can use, but some are more common. The
most used detailed analysis of the environment is the PEST analysis. This is a bird’s eye view of
the business conduct. Managers and strategy builders use this analysis to find where their market
currently. It also helps foresee where the organization will be in the future.
PEST analysis consists of various factors that affect the business environment. Each letter in the
acronym signifies a set of factors. These factors can affect every industry directly or indirectly.
The letters in PEST, denote the following things:
 Political factors
 Economic factors
 Social factors
 Technological factors
 POLITICAL FACTORS:- Political factors are basically to what degree
the government intervenes in the economy. Specifically, political factors has areas
including tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political
stability. Political factors may also include goods and services which the government aims
to provide or be provided (merit goods) and those that the government does not want to be
provided (demerit goods or merit bads). Furthermore, governments have a high impact on
the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation.
 Government policies
 Ownership by Government
 Tariffs decided by Government
 ECONOMICAL FACTORS :- Economic factors include economic growth, interest
rates, exchange rates, the inflation rate. These factors greatly affects how businesses
operate and make decisions. For example, interest rates affect a firm's cost of capital and
would therefore to what extent a business grows and expands. Exchange rates can affect the
costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy.

15.  Inflation rate
 Economic growth
 Disposable Income
 SOCIAL FACTORS:- Social factors include the cultural aspects and health
consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on
safety. High trends in social factors affect the demand for a company's products and how
that company operates. For example, the aging population may imply a smaller and less-
willing workforce (thus increasing the cost of labor). Furthermore, companies may change
various management strategies to adapt to social trends caused from this (such as recruiting
older workers).
 Population Growth
 Changes in Income
 Education
 Reach of Internet and banking facility
 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS:- Technological factors include technological aspects
like R&D activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological
change. These can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and
influence the outsourcing decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts would affect costs,
quality, and lead to innovation.
 Speed of Internet
 Penetration of Internet
 Digital India Initiative
 Upgradation of Technology

16. PORTER’S FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS
PORTER’S FIVE FORCES
The five forces identified by Porter are divided into:
 Horizontal forces: Threat of substitutes, threat of new entrants, competitive rivalry
 Vertical forces: Bargaining power of buyers and bargaining power of customers
1. Competitive Rivalry
One important force that Porter describes is the degree of rivalry between existing companies in
the market. If there are more companies competing with each other, the resulting competitive
pressure will mean that prices, profits and strategy will be driven by it.
One company may end up having little or no power in its own industry if there is a variety of
quality products are offered in the market in direct competition with it. Customers have the
option of simply moving on to a different company easily. Conversely, in the absence of this
rivalry, the company may be able to freely set prices and profit margins without being dictated
by what the customer finds attractive.

17. When is competitive rivalry high?
Competitive rivalry may be higher when:
 Similar sized companies operate in one market
 These companies have similar strategies
 Products on offer have similar features and offer the same benefits
 Growth in the industry is slow
 There are high barriers to exit or low barriers to entry
2. Threat of new Entrants
The competitive threat to a company’s business may not only be from existing players in the
market but also from potential new entrants into the market place. If an industry is profitable, or
attractive in a long term strategic manner, then it will be attractive to new companies. Unless
there are barriers to entry in place, new firms may easily enter the market and change the
dynamics of the industry.
The particular dynamics of an industry that restrict entry into it are called barriers to entry The
most attractive scenario for a new company is when a potential market has low barriers to exit
but high barriers to entry. The economics of any industry will determine the level of difficulty
faced when trying to enter this market.
When are barriers for new entrants high?
Barriers to entry may stem from things like:
 patents and proprietary knowledge
 access to specialized technology or infrastructure
 economies of scale or government driven obstacles
 high initial investment needed
 high switching costs for consumers, loyal consumers
 difficulty in accessing raw material and difficulty in accessing distribution channels
3. Threat of Substitutes
Within the framework defined by Porter, substitute products are those that exist in another
industry but may be used to fulfill the same need. The more substitutes that exist for a product,
the larger the company’s competitive environment and the lower the potential for profit. An
example of this is that for a boxed juice producer, fresh juice, water and soft drinks are all
substitutes though they exist in separate categories.
A high threat of substitutes will impact a company’s ability to set prices that it wants. If a
substitute is priced lower or fulfills a need better than it may end up attracting consumers
towards it and reduce sales for existing companies.
When is there a threat from substitutes?
The threat of substitutes is affected by factors such as brand loyalty, switching costs, relative
prices, as well as trends and fads.
4. Bargaining Power of Buyers
When buyers have the power to affect prices in an industry, it becomes an important factor to
consider for a company.
When is buyer power high?
Buyers tend to have power over an industry if they are important to the company, this may be if
the industry is such that buyers either buy in bulk, or can easily switch to another supplier. A

18. limited number of strong buyers may be able to exert significant control over a seller. In
addition, if a product is similar to its competitor with little or no differentiation, then there are
chances that the company may need to let the supplier dictate terms in order to avoid losing the
customer.
5. Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Suppliers provide the raw material needed to provide a good or service. This means that there is
usually a need to maintain strong steady relationships with suppliers. Depending on the industry
dynamics, suppliers may be in the position to dictate terms, set prices and determine availability
timelines. Powerful suppliers may be able to increase costs without affecting their own sales
volume or reduce quantities that they sell.
When do suppliers have power?
Supplier may enjoy more power if there are less of them. Costs of switching to an alternate are
high, or there are no alternates. A supplier may also be the only provider of a certain raw
material. This may be the case in instances where a supplier holds a patent or have proprietary
knowledge. Because of a lack of alternates, they may be able to withhold quantities or increase
prices without losing sales.
PORTER’S FIVE FORCE MODEL OF IRCTC
 New tour operators are coming up with packages.
 Food joints giving delivery in trains
 Low cost airlines
 Lack of available tickets
 Inflation
 Competition by stayzilla.com, flipkart.com, myntra.com etc
SWOT ANALYSIS
 STRENGTHS
 Subsidiary of ministry of Railways.
 Full back up by the Govt.
 Excellent faith and goodwill
 Largest e-commerce website
 Monopoly in rail tour packages and rail ticketing
 Concession on booking of charters.
 WEAKNESS
 Lack of motivation in employee
 Poor promotional Activities and public relation

19.  Limitations in decision making process
 Delayed decision making .
 “Not my work” attitude of the employees.
 Non Existence of full fledge marketing team.
 OPPURTUNITY
 Buoyancy in the Tourism sector
 Increase in individual disposable income
 Air packages and road transport packages.
 Booming Hotels and resorts industry
 Bids for contract
 Strategic Tie-ups for better and improved performance
 THREATS
 Leading web portals like Make my trip, cox & kings, clear trip , yatra. Com etc.
 Terrorists attacks and naxalites attacks
 Withdrawal of parental support from the ministry of railways and Govt. of India
 Low fare Airlines
 Private small tour operators
 Increasing Inflation rate.
7 P’S OF IRCTC SERVICE MARKETING
 PEOPLE
 At present IRCTC have around 4500 employees. The employees comprise of IRCTC
Direct Employees, Deemed Deputation absorbers, Deemed Deputations, deputations and
fixed term employees.
 Agent Network across India
 PLACE

20.  Five Zonal Offices are working at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and
Secunderabad.
 PRICE
 Low cost as per Government in case of railway and others are cheaper than compared
to the other competitors.
 PROMOTION
 Advertisement, Subh Yatra Card, SBI Railway Card , promotional offers through
debit card/credit card
 PROCESS
 Online processing, counter , Home Delivery facility available, e-ticketing, SMS based
ticketing , Android / Window based Mobile platform ticketing
 PRODUCT
 Tour packages, Flight, Hotels, Tourist Train, Cab and Loyalty Program , Railneer
Drinking Water , Train food, Non core product : Online shopping through IRCTC
website
 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
 Well developed web site with whole lots of information, Counters and ‘139’ customer
enquiry service , round the clock ticketing service , food Plaza and restaurants.

21. GAP ANALYSIS
A technique that businesses use to determine what steps need to be taken in order to move from
its current state to its desired, future state. Also called need-gap analysis, needs analysis, and
needs assessment.
CURRENT POSITION
 No. of tickets that can be booked in a minute is 2000
 37 % of the total tickets are booked online
 29% payment failures
 Heavy rush on Tatkal tickets (especially on Thursday morning)
 The no. of tie-ups with hotels is not very high

22. DESIRED POSITION
 Required no. is nearly 7500 tickets per minute
 It should be increased to 50% to increase income.
 Should be reduced to 5-10%
 Should be able to control this large no.
 It should have more tie-ups with hotels, organizations and educational institutes.
STRATEGIESADOPTEDBY IRCTC
 Marginal cost pricing strategies are adopted to provide low cost services to the customers
in public interest.
 Awareness has been created about a product or a service offered to a customer through
advertisements and their strategic placement
 Making a good public relation with customer by Maintaining a service brand with the
public and thus generating repeat buyers etc.
 Transaction costs are being minimized for benefit of the people. For ex. Paperless ticket,
SMS based ticketing etc.
 Mobile platform is being used innovatively in service delivery mechanism. Like android
based app.
 Attracted lots of channel partners for delivering the various services.
 Technological up-gradation of the online ticketing is being done regularly to meet
customers expectations. For ex. During tatkal the webportal is light.
 Jago Yatri Jago Campaign – drive to curb overcharging by service staff - Toll Free No.
1800-111-139 & SMS on 9971111139
 Contract of various Government Departmental canteens

23. CHAPTER-3
IRCTC CATERING BUSINESSANALYSIS
Catering is an efficient method of providing food for large parties. IRCTC concentrates
equally on catering services. It believes in Rail catering – Multi Dimensions. It includes Food
Plaza, On-Board Catering, Catering Stalls, Automatic Vending Machines, and Rail Neer
– Packaged drinking water.
Food Plaza: Food plazas are set up at major / important railway stations with multi-
cuisine outlets dishing out vegetarian, non-vegetarian, sweet meat, pastry shop, juice shop,
ice cream corner among various other food and beverages all under one roof in the huff and
puff of the rail ambience.
On-Board Catering: Food and beverages are served on – Board the Rajdhani, Shatabdi
and other mail/express trains from the pantry car and also picked up from the well
equipped based kitchens en-route.
Catering Stalls: Catering stalls are aesthetically designed on a modular stall
specification with all in built requirements to serve the quality food and beverages on time as
per the needs of the passengers.
Automatic Vending Machines: Serving hot and cold beverages and a variety of per-packed
snacks are being dispensed. The product dispensed is standardized in terms of quality and
quantity.
Rail NeerPackaged Drinking Water: The bottled water brand of IRCTC has set new bench
mark for the packaged drinking water in terms of quality, visibility and taste.
CURRENT TRENDS IN INDUSTRY
I. Money Spent at Foodservice Establishments Continues to Grow
During the last 10 years there have been noticeable changes in the eating habits of Indians.
These changes have been reflected in increases of money spent at foodservice establishments
compared with money spent on in-home meals. However, this does not mean that fewer
meals are eaten at home. On the contrary, the number of meals has not changed just the
origin or substance of those meals. The growing availability of take-out meals from
restaurants well illustrates this trend. This not only allows the customer to eat at home, but
satisfies another of the recent trends in eating: people craving high quality meals with short
to no preparation time.
II. Convenience Is King
The rise in convenience foods over the last 10 years has been illustrated in the steady growth
of fast-food chains in the India. The broad success of the cell phone is symbolic of Indians

24. greater mobility. This on-the-run mentality has created the need for quick, easy-to-prepare
foods. The increase in single parent households, women in the workplace and the amount of
disposable income of teenagers have added to the need for ready-to-eat meals. Convenience
foods need to be easy to make for any age group, with easy cleanup and little or no waste.
Most meals are eaten on-the-go, so the ability to hold the food item with one hand and the
freedom to eat without utensils are important.
III. Healthy Is "In
Another trend in Indian eating habits is the desire for healthy meals. Whether eating at home
or out, consumers are starting to demand healthy alternatives to the usual menu fair. This
change has been spawned by increased public awareness of heart disease, cancer, and other
illnesses. Along with disease awareness has come public education on disease prevention--
most of all, by modification of the diet. People now take into account more than ever the
amount of calories, fat, and sodium consumed. Other popular concerns include all natural
ingredients and use of organic produce.
IV. More Than Just Dal, Rice and Roti
In addition to healthy foods, consumers are requesting more multicultural meals. With
minority populations growing at increasing rates, the mobility of consumers, and the
globalization of the marketplace, consumer tastes are broadening to include many different
cultures. For example, a decade ago Mexican restaurants were few and far-between but have
now joined Italian and Chinese restaurants in the mainstream market (Mills, 2000).
V. Is Our Food Safe
Lastly, there has been increased public concern about food safety. Consumers are looking for
assurances that their food is safe and that its safety is maintained throughout the cooking
process.Based on the current trends, IRCTC is eyeing the potential customers by customizing
the services according to the customers on / off board.
ROLE OF TECHNOLOGYIN CATERING
State of art technology which provides latest designs and kitchen equipments. Telephone /
Mobile technology plays a vital role in the catering services. A passenger can place an order
to IRCTC Food plazas available at major railway stations by giving his/her details like Train
No., Coach No., Name, Berth Number, Date and Time of Journey. Passenger can choose
from a wide range of varieties available at IRCTC Standard Menu. In case of Rajdhani and
Shatabdi, a passenger can place an order through online while booking his/her ticket.

25. MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY
As IRCTC is a whole and sole subsidiary of Indian Railways, it is a monopoly in the catering
services offered by it. But still IRCTC welcomes Food and Beverages companies, Fast Food
Majors, Hoteliers and other caterers to associate with the IRCTC to become strategic partner
for Facilitating quality food and beverages services to Rail passengers.
COMPETITORS
IRCTC has no competitors as mentioned earlier. But thinking broadly competitors for
IRCTC exists from Housewife’s and local food sellers at the railway platforms. As per the
Indian passenger’s tendency, most of the passengers prefer home food because of their
convenience, quality, taste’s, hygiene, cost and quantity. Hence IRCTC is putting its best
efforts to provide all the needs of the passengers to serve quality food at cost effective prices.
TANGIBILITY SPECTRUM
TANGIBLE FACTORS OF PANTRYCAR SERVICES
The service is people processing: They would know the product quality in terms of taste. So
taste is the tangibility factor. Package quality, service provider dress code, purity of water,
packaging of water. All these factors enhance the tangibility factors of pantry car services.
SERVICE OFFERING
Customer Expectations of service:
Customer expectations are beliefs about service delivery that serves as standards or reference
points against which performance is judged. Because customers compare their perceptions of
performance with these reference points when evaluating service quality, thorough
knowledge about customer expectations is critical to service marketers. Knowing what the
customer expects is the first and possibly most critical step in delivering quality service.
Customer expectations in train vary from region to region. As India is diversified country
IRCTC is trying hard to make common menu and also Al-Carte menu which satisfies the
regional tastes and preferences.
Customer want services like Food Served hot, with premium quality at affordable prices. As
every customer has zone of tolerance if the service drops below adequate service customer
feels frustrated and their satisfaction with the provider will be undermined.
‘Bundle of benefits’ typically received by customers:
In Rajdhani and shatabdi trains different menus are available for passengers to make most of

26. it. Food price i.e., package of bed tea to dinner are included in the Ticket fare for the
passengers. For the other superfast and express trains standard menu is to be utilized by the
customers where the catering cost is not involved in passenger tariff. For this reason the cost
of each item is clearly defined so that the customer’s feels satisfied and value for product.
Service is fast for the customers. Based on the packages different items are served in a
combo style which is beneficiary for the passengers.
ANALYSIS OF IRCTC CATERING
STRENGTHS:
• 700 pantry cars all over India
• 150 food plazas
• 7000catering stalls
• Only player for catering in Railways
• Assured business
WEAKNESS:
• Transport catering business can satisfy only 80% of customers
• Slow implementation
OPPORTUNITIES:
• Huge market
• Competition free environment for entrants of new players in association with IRCTC
SUGGESTIONS TO A NEW PLAYER:
• Abundant competition
• Assured business
• Big area for advertising their own products
• Huge profit

27. CHAPTER-4
IRCTC TOURISM BUSINESS ANALYSIS
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure for business purposes. IRCTC through tourism
promotes all famous destinations in India. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation Limited (IRCTC), is a public sector enterprise under the Government of
India - Ministry of Railways and is the single window interface for providing complete
travel & tourism solutions for the various customer segments and is also taking over
catering on trains and at stations over the Indian Railway network.
VISION
IRCTC’s vision for the tourism business is “To be the leading provider of a complete
spectrum of consistently high quality tourism products”.
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.
CURRENT TRENDS
Tourism industry trends can be ascertained with regard to the following parameters.
Market analysts researching in tourism industry trends predict or provide a general
layout of the trends with respect to outcomes of tourism which is inbound, e-
business in the tourism industry, development and promoting tourism in tribal areas,

28. trends in tourism farming, tourism requirements, development of strategies in the context
of tourism, tourism markets worldwide, selling or promoting tourist destination.
IRCTC has introduced railtourismindia.com for booking packages keeping in mind
the different societies. It has associated with top and best hotels wherever the
tourism is encouraged. Incredible India, an initiative by Govt. of India is well supported
by IRCTC.
ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
Internet plays an important role in IRCTC tourism sector. Customers are provided
with immense information about the packages that are available. Packages include right
from train ticket conformation to the accommodation in hotels, booking cabs, darshans,
and site seeing, food at affordable prices. Every thing is through the main site that is
IRCTC online website. Upon completion of the booking process the customers get
information either through mail or to mobile.
MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY
As travel industry is growing rapidly there is an immense presence of private and
government players in the industry. Major players include AP tourism, APSRTC tourist
package.
COMPETITION
Competition is from both private and public sector organizations. Some of the competitors
include
• Other State Road Transport Corporations
• Private Tours & Travelers
• APSRTC
• AP Tourism Packages
• Airlines (offering packages at reasonable lower costs) – Prefer for the reason of time
saving.
TANGIBILITY SPECTRUM
TANGIBLE FACTORS OF IRCTC TOURISM
Ambience: Infrastructure of bus, seating type (sleeper or semi sleeper), DVD facility, AC,
Bed sheets, Water bottles, warmers, and curtains.

29. TOURIST GUIDE: Uniform, Qualification, social skills.
Search and experience qualities: Distribution of brochures, Digital Marketing improves
quality.
Physical Representations: logos, colors enhances visual representation
Documentation: Displaying Quality assurance certificates by service providers
SERVICE OFFERINGS
Customer Expectations in this industry:
Customer expectations are very high. IRCTC is meeting the expectations of the
passengers by providing security, safe travel, affordable prices along with packages,
number tourist destinations, more services during peak season. Fulfilling the promise
made by the service provider initially is the primary expectation of the customer.
Bundle of Benefits:
• Confirmed reservation in train
• Hotel accommodation
• Cab facilities
• Al carte menu
• Affordable packages
• Free site seeing / experienced tourist guides
• Value for the money
• Insurance policies (Travel)
• Medical check ups
• Journey by exclusive A/C trains
SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS
There are five service quality dimensions. They are Tangibles, Reliability,
Responsiveness, Assurance and Empathy.
TANGIBLES
Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials.
RELIABILITY
Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
RESPONSIVENESS
Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service

30. ASSURANCE
Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence
EMPATHY
Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers
Yes all the service quality dimensions are applied for this service industry. The most
important quality is reliability because the tourism package involves many promises of
services by the provider and it is the challenge of the provider to satisfy and provide the
promised performance. The least applied quality is assurance.
CUSTOMERS INVOLVEMENT:
The importance of customers in successful service delivery is obvious if service
performances are looked at as a form of drama .Customer participation at some level is
inevitable in service delivery. Services are actions or performances, typically produced
and consumed simultaneously.
• Booking tickets through rail tourism India
• Knowing information through web
• Giving proper feedback to improve the service
• Cooperating with the service provider
INDUSTRYSECTION
STRENGTHS:
• Confirmed train ticket
• Facilitation at stations
• Government subsidiary industry
• Price factor
WEAKNESS:
• Security
• Quality of service when compared to private operators
• Flexibility of timings
OPPORTUNITIES:
• More Pilgrimage destinations
• Improve in service to attract niche market
• Tie-ups and joint ventures with other service providers

31. CHAPTER -5
IRCTC ONLINE TICKETING BUSINESS ANALYSIS
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) operate an online
booking service that has simplified rail travel in India since its deployment in 2002. During
the set-up of this solution, IRCTC overcame several challenges and its web site has now
emerged as a user-friendly, profit-making enterprise.
The Indian Railways has the second-largest railway network in the world. It is run by the
Ministry of Railways, which formed the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation
Limited (IRCTC) in 1999 to manage hospitality services during rail travel. The IRCTC is
also responsible for information, publicity and global reservation systems. It launched an
online booking service in August 2002 to enable customers to book tickets from the comfort
of their own home and to reduce ticketing costs for the railways through savings in
manpower.
CURRENT TRENDS
In order to reach maximum number of customers, those who were looking for the
convenience of booking railway tickets online, but did not have a credit card or a net banking
facility to make that transaction on the net.
Internet Company Sify has announced its tie up with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation (IRCTC) to make online railway ticketing service available at over 3,400 I Way
cybercafés across 154 cities, on cash payments. As the first step, a pilot project at 10 iWays
in Delhi has been kicked-off on Thursday. “With the alliance in place, users can approach
Sify iWay where the cafe administrator would book the railway ticket online, based on
particulars such as date of travel and destination. The customer then pays cash against the
ticket and collects the ticket printout. In case of ticket cancellations, the customers will
follow the standard cancellation process of IRCTC after which the customer gets cash against
the cancellation. But the convenience of e-ticketing would come at a price. Users opting to
book e-tickets through the cash mode would have to shell out a transaction charge of Rs 15 in
case of a sleeper class ticket and Rs 25 in case of AC ticket.
ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY
The IRCTC reservation site allows passengers to access train fares, routes and availability in
real-time, book tickets online and track the status of their ticket. The system runs on a
Broad Vision e-commerce platform and Intel-based servers which, according to the IRCTC,

32. provide a robust and cost-efficient platform. The organization also uses a combination of
Intel, Red Hat and Oracle’s E-Business Suite. This allows it to leverage its legacy
applications with efficient integration and provide reliability for the web-enabled
system.128-bit encryption and the practice of not storing credit card details in the system
ensures secure online transactions.
Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), which manages the original railway
reservation system, collaborated with IRCTC to integrate the online services with the
existing system. Broad Vision integrated the legacy system with the online reservation
system and developed a process to verify credit card information in real-time, as bookings
had to be confirmed on the railway reservation system immediately. Broad Vision developed
the e-commerce application with an Oracle backend; HCL is charged with the network and
its security.
MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE INDUSTRY:
IRCTC is the only online reservation site for the passengers to book the tickets online. Apart
from the IRCTC website, Indian Railways operated reservation centers are the other players
in this industry.
COMPETITION
Broadly thinking competitors of IRCTC are makemytrip.com, yatra.com. But at the later
stage they have established a joint venture with these providers.
TANGIBILITY SPECTRUM
TANGIBLE FACTORS OF ONLINE BOOKING
Detailed WebPages
Easy search of information
Physical representations: Logos, colors used enhances visual representation
Documentation: Publishing of growth in usage of online booking
All these factors enhances the tangibility of ONLINE BOOKING
SERVICE OFFERING
Customer expectations:
• Online reservation counters at the nearest place
• More number of authorized dealers for booking of tickets

33. • Option of booking tickets through cash
• Fast completion of booking process
• No hang ups in the middle of transactions
• Security during online transactions
• Bulk booking (more than 6 tickets)
• Fast credit of money on cancellation of tickets
Bundle of benefits:
• Time saving, no need to stand in queues
• Easy to access as it is user friendly
• All the options of direct booking available
• Priority to customers associated with SBI
• Availing discounts for the priority customers
• No tension of loosing the ticket
• Loyalty programs
SERVICE QUALITY DIMENSIONS
There are five service quality dimensions. They are Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness,
Assurance and Empathy.
TANGIBLES
Appearance of physical facilities, equipment, personnel, and communication materials.
RELIABILITY
Ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately.
RESPONSIVENESS
Willingness to help customers and provide prompt service
ASSURANCE
Knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence
EMPATHY
Caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers
Tangibles and Responsiveness are applicable to this industry. The most important quality is
responsiveness and the least important is tangibles.
Customers Involvement in service delivery:
• Providing proper information at the time of transaction
• Finishing the transaction process within the stipulated time
• Carrying the identity card to avail the E ticket booked journey
• Taking the printout of the ticket rather than arguing wit the TT
• Following the instructions, terms & conditions properly to utilize the services.

34. INDUSTRYSECTION
STRENGTHS:
• An average of 1,00,000 transactions per day
• No competitors in online booking
• Fast and preferred service for booking tickets
WEAKNESS:
• Security
• Lapses in the technology at times
• Slow processing
• No bulk booking
OPPORTUNITIES:
• More authorized dealers
• Joint ventures with private operators
FUTURE HOLDS:
More options and features using the latest technology to attract more and more customers and
tie – ups with sify and cox and kings .Opportunity for private agents to venture in to this
segment.

35. CHAPTER-6
FUTURE PLANS OF IRCTC
Some of the initiatives planned for tourism, catering activities and Internet Ticketing are as under
Catering:
• Strategic tie ups : IRCTC is working towards tie ups in the areas of mobile catering, Rail
Neer and product formation.
• Static Units: Streamlining of procurement process, standardization of services and
automation in base kitchens is the focus area in major static units.
• New Rail Neer Plants : For Southern Region, Rail Neer plant is being set up at Pulur near
Chennai. Tender has been awarded and physical work for setting up building is in advance
stage. For Western region, architect and plant consultants have been appointed for Rail Neer
plant at Ambernath near Mumbai.
• Modular Stalls : Replacement of all catering stalls with uniform design of modular stalls is
proposed to be undertaken and M/s Jindal Steel is working on a prototype which will give
longer life and aesthetic look.
• Cell Kitchens/Base Kitchens : Plans are to set up another 100 licensee cell kitchens.
• Food Plazas/Fast Food Units/Quick Service Food Kiosks : More than 20 food plazas, 20
Fast Food Units and 5 QSFK are in advance stage of planning.
• Food Courts : IRCTC is planning to develop food courts at stations with contemporary
interior designs.
Tourism :
• Launching of a Luxury Tourist Train with pan India itineraries.
• Thrust of Educational Tour on All India basis.
• Strategic tie-ups for promoting tourism
• Comprehensive travel services to foreign tourists booking tickets on IRCTC website.
Internet Ticketing
• Modernization of IT infrastructure.
• Setting up of disaster recovery site.

36. REFERENCES
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation to launch 'Rolling Deposit Scheme' for
e-ticket - Economic Times. Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com (28 August 2012).
Retrieved on 23 September 2013.
"Indian Railways to introduce Rolling Deposit Scheme for E-Ticketing". Retrieved 31
August 2013.
Gupta, Jayanta (19 March 2010). "Rs 1 lakh a night on Maharajas’ Express". Times of
India. Retrieved 6 April2010.
Welcome to Indian Railway Passenger reservation Enquiry. Indianrail.gov.in (30 June
2006). Retrieved on 23 September 2013.
http://www.services.irctc.co.in/beta_htmls/TatkalFaq.html