Aiming to revive its fortune in the fast-growing food and beverages industry, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), a railway public sector undertaking, has planned to come up with a ‘food factory’ here to serve customers with packed delicacies catering to their choice.The company, which suffered a setback recently after the railways decided to take over the catering responsibility from it, plans to cash in on its brand value in the market.
Top IRCTC officials said offices, schools and colleges, and multi-national companies would be their target clients. The factory that would serve cooked food in the NCR region is likely to come up by March next year. It will be run by 120 to 125 staff to begin with. “We would also reach out to households and wish to take up catering jobs in any major national and international events in the capital,” an IRCTC official said. The official, did not divulge the amount of investment for this new unit. He said IRCTC’s forte was in catering and in running food courts at stations across the country.
Considered its core business area, the catering department fetched 97.5 per cent of its revenue in the last financial year. The corporation had recorded 16 per cent growth in its earnings. However, it is likely to take a big hit after the loss of the catering responsibilities to the Railways. According to the results of the 2009-10 financial year, the corporation had earned Rs 722 crore, registering growth of 16.7 per cent.