More Stories

Informist, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026

 

Please click here to read all liners published on this story

--IRCTC: Billing from Vande Bharat trains up INR 700 mln; licence fee also up 
--CONTEXT: IRCTC management's comments in post-earnings analyst call 
--IRCTC: Vande Bharat margins affected by rising licence fees, 5% GST 
--IRCTC: Q3 online ticket bookings at 1.46 mln/day vs 1.36 mln/day year ago 
--IRCTC: Q3 convenience revenue at INR 2.61 bln, non-convenience INR 1.5 bln 
--IRCTC: Air business jumped 41% YoY in Oct-Dec to INR 67.4 million 
--IRCTC: Revenue from Tejas Express in Oct-Dec at INR 500 million 
--IRCTC: Maharaja Express revenue grew 39% YoY to INR 531.4 mln in Oct-Dec 
--IRCTC: Nearly 89% tickets already being booked online 

By Gunjan Rajput and Sunil Raghu 

MUMBAI –  The management of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd. Friday said that though billing from Vande Bharat trains rose nearly INR 700 million in the December quarter, its margin on that revenue fell due to higher licence fees and 5% goods and services tax.

 

"The main reason for catering business revenue growth is the introduction of an additional 40 trains during the period. So far as margin is concerned, when we log the revenue for Vande Bharat billing, it does not give us that much licence fee. Additionally, 5% GST we have to pay out of that," the management said in a post-earnings conference call with analysts.

 

The company's online ticket bookings rose to INR 1.46 million per day in the December quarter, from INR 1.36 million per day a year ago. The share of payments through Unified Payments Interface in bookings increased to 50.18% from 46.86% last year. The company, which is also provides comprehensive online travel services, said that its railway passengers are also using other travel-related services. "Our total other transactions are only 10,030, which include hotels, airlines, tour packages and others," the management said.

 

The company's convenience fee revenue for the December quarter stood at INR 2.61 billion, while non-convenience revenue was INR 1.5 billion. The revenue from air ticketing business jumped up 41% on year in Oct-Dec to INR 67.4 million.

The management said revenue from the Tejas Express in Oct-Dec stood at INR 500 million and that from the Maharaja Express rose 39% on year to INR 531.4 million.

The company has sanctioned Rail Neer plants at Mysuru, Prayagraj, Bhagalpur and Ranchi, which will help increase the capacity by 25–30% over the next one-and-a-half years. The company is also doubling capacity at its Danapur and Ambernath facilities to support the growing demand.

 

On food delivery through third-party platforms in trains, the company said there is sufficient market depth for both onboard catering and e-catering services. "Like as I showed you the figure of this quarter, both our normal catering and our e-catering increased by around 25%. In basic catering, we serve dal chawal khana (standard meals), while in e-catering, passengers can add to what they eat. Both are complementing each other, and I don't see any downsides in either segment," the company said.

The company's net profit for the December quarter was INR 3.94 billion, up nearly 16% on year. Revenue for the quarter was INR 14.49 billion, up over 18% on year. On Friday, shares of the company closed at INR 617.50 on the National Stock Exchange, down almost 1% from the previous session.  End

 

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.