In an order issued on March 8th, 2022 the Railway Board gave permission to zonal railways to set up food units and multi-cuisine restaurants at vacant or non-utilized spots at the railway stations. However, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has asked the Indian Railways to give a second thought to its decision of letting zones build food plazas on rail land, which is a mandate held by the catering arm of the national transporter.
The Railway Board said in the order that references were received from Zonal Railways seeking permission to operate major static units including food plazas, fast food units and multi-cuisine restaurants, in view of the fact that many spaces allotted to IRCTC have continued to remain vacant which has led to non-provision of passenger service and loss of railway revenue, reported PTI.
The railways, according to PTI sources, earns approximately Rs 120 crore per annum from static units, which includes refreshment rooms, janahaars along with food plazas and fast food units. This reportedly came down to around Rs 10 crore during FY 2020-21 primarily due to the pandemic. “There had been non-operation and some closure of the units too. The railways had extended its benefits of reduction of license fee payable by its licensee-based catering units too. Two years of pandemic cannot be ignored when business over the railway station almost came to a standstill. Scope of work for food plaza operation was drastically curtailed,” the source was quoted as saying by PTI.
The sources added that the IRCTC has returned about 40 food plaza sites to the railways due to non-participation by bidders owing to poor financial and operational feasibility.
IRCTC spokesperson Anand Jha told PTI that currently, there are approximately 300 food plazas under operation by the IRCTC and over 75 more are expected to be finalised in the coming months. “The IRCTC has requested the railways for reconsideration of its decision,” he said.