IRCTC shares in focus after MoU with Swiggy; railway PSU stock up 5% in 2024 so far.

Shares of Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) will be in focus on Wednesday morning after the railway PSU said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between IRCTC and Swiggy (Bundl Technologies) to provide pre-ordered meals to passengers of Indian Railways through IRCTC e-Catering Services.

As per said MOU, IRCTC said the service will be made available initially on Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam & Bhubaneswar stations and the number of stations may be increased or decreased on mutual agreement during the currency of Proof of Concept (PoC).

As part of the MoU, Swiggy will deliver food from its extensive restaurant network to passengers on the Indian railways starting with Bangalore, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada. The service is likely to expand to 59 additional city stations in the coming weeks.

Chairman and Managing Director at IRCTC, Sanjay Kumar Jain, said: "At IRCTC our focus has always been to explore new ways to make train journeys comfortable and convenient for the billions of passengers aboard the Indian railways every year. This partnership with Swiggy will bring more convenience and food options to our passengers, making their journeys more memorable."

IRCTC shares are up 5 per cent in 2024 so far. The stock is up 52 per cent in the last one year.

CEO for Food Marketplace at Swiggy Mr Rohit Kapoor said The Indian Railways is the lifeline of India, transporting more than 8 billion passengers annually.

"If during these rail journeys, which traverse across states and districts, one has the option to order meals to explore the culinary diversity of India, it would make the experience more convenient and enjoyable, and add to the overall vividness of the train travel," he said.

"IRCTC and Swiggy collaboration is natural in several ways. Both the organisations have built a reputation of leveraging technology to improve consumer experience. Both have a pan-India presence. In the first phase, we are starting with deliveries on stations of Bengaluru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar. We are hopeful of a buoyant response from passengers and restaurant operators on this route, which will hopefully lead to us providing services on more stations and on newer routes," Kapoor said.

Swiggy's support agents will be trained in resolution process, gratification & cancellation policies. The support agents will also be equipped to connect with restaurants and delivery partners based on the order status and the nature of the customer issue.