IRCTC Share Price: Stock Analysis, History, and Forecast

With the announcement of the Union Budget 2022, the share prices of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation, or IRCTC, skyrocketed. With the introduction of a pandemic-induced lockdown, the IRCTC share price has been steadily declining. On the other hand, the budget completely transformed the game, and the stock prices soared. If you are new to the stock market and want to learn how to invest in it, we have got you covered with our comprehensive guide to IRCTC stock prices.

IRCTC Share Prices Today

The IRCTC Share Price today can be depicted through the overall performance of the day across the stock market. 

Note: This data is based upon the share price of IRCTC on 7th February, 2022.

After looking into the overall Indian Railway Share Price, let’s take a look at the IRCTC share price of NSE and BSE. 

IRCTC Share Price NSE

NSE Live IRCTC Stock Price: 835.60

Previous Close: 855.75

Open Price: 858.75

Bid Price (Quantity): 835.60 (269)

Offer Price (Quantity): 834.90 (202)

IRCTC Share Price BSE

BSE Live IRCTC Stock Price: 835.65

Previous Close: 855.80

Open Price: 857.00

Bid Price (Quantity): 834.95 (2)

Offer Price (Quantity): 835.30 (46)

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited: Overview

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was founded on September 27, 1999, as a public sector business wholly owned by the Indian Railways. It is the sole company that is authorised to offer required services to the Indian Railways, such as online ticketing and catering services. Additionally, it makes drinking water available for the passengers during the entire journey and at stations. It was classified as a Miniratna public corporation in May 2008, which gave it some financial autonomy. 

The company is the only one of its kind in India, and it works only through its official government website. Aside from food catering, the company has ventured into other markets, such as inexpensive hotels and e-catering executive lounges. In 2019, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited was listed on the NSE – National Stock Exchange, reducing the Government of India’s holding to 87 percent and allowing the remaining shares to be traded publicly. The Government of India deprived another 20 percent in December 2020, bringing its total stake in the IRCTC to 67 percent.

IRCTC Carries Out Following Core Activities:

1. Catering and Hospitality 
2. Ticketing (through internet medium)
3. Travel and Tourism
4. Rail Neer (packaged clean drinking water)

Primary Objectives

IRCTC revolves around the following key objectives:

• To be the foremost easily operated organisation for the customers.
• Optimise available resources and put forward enhanced manpower productivity.
• Availability of improved and integrated catering services within the organised railway sector
• Boost business opportunities by increasing public-private partnerships.
• Prosper high standards of top-notch management, business ethics, together with cost control estimates

At present, IRCTC Operates Through:

• 14 Neer Plants located at Nangloi (Delhi), Danapur (Bihar), Palur (Tamil Nadu), Ambernath (Maharashtra), Amethi (Uttar Pradesh), Parassala (Tamil Nadu), Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh), Hapur (UP), Sanand (Gujarat), Mandideep (MP), Jagiroad (Assam), Maneri (MP), Nagpur (Maharashtra) as well as Sankrail (Kolkata). 
• Food catering takes place through eleven base kitchens. These kitchens are located in 1) Delhi 2) Howrah 3) Ahmedabad 4) Patna 5) Mumbai Central 6) Mumbai CST 7) Ballarshah 8) Nagpur 9) Balasore 10) Sealdah 11) Kharagpur.
• The Zonal Offices are located in 1) New Delhi, 2) Mumbai, 3) Kolkata, 4) Chennai, 5) Secunderabad.
• IRCTC have 10 Regional Offices, which are located in 1) Lucknow, 2) Chandigarh, 3) Jaipur, 4) Bhopal, 5) Ahmadabad, 6) Guwahati, 7) Bhubaneswar, 8) Patna, 9) Ernakulam, 10) Bangalore.
• There is only one IRCTC Internet Ticketing Office, which is located in New Delhi.
• The IRCTC Tourism office is located in New Delhi.

Key Segments of IRCTC

Over the years, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has been immensely growing across all the segments. IRCTC has received numerous awards for its outstanding performance across the railway service sector.      

The new standards were set when IRCTC was featured within the list of Fortune India Next 500 over the past few years. As per various esteemed market experts, the core business model of IRCTC is strong, which makes the venture highly profitable. All such entities make IRCTC a top-notch service provider for the railway industry. 

IRCTC is well known for dealing in the following segments and the entire business revenue is derived only from these segments:

Online Ticketing Platform

IRCTC is an independent enterprise that is established for selling railway tickets via an official portal. The entire popularity of IRCTC can be derived from the fact that it is the one and only proprietor that is responsible for selling out railway tickets through online portals and is authorised by the Government of India. 

Food Catering Services

Apart from ticketing services, IRCTC is known for the quality of catering services it offers to passengers. With the introduction of technology within the railway sector, passengers can now access the catering services through their mobile applications. 

Budget Hotels & Lounges

Besides travel facilities, IRCTC offers low-budget hotels along with retiring rooms for passengers. This service is quite helpful when you are travelling between the connecting trains. 

Packaged Drinking Water

IRCTC is the sole company that the Indian Government authorises for distributing packaged drinking water in trains and railway stations. The brand name of packaged water delivered by IRCTC is Rail Neer. 

Travel & Tourism

Besides the above-mentioned services, IRCTC is a key player in the travel and tourism sector too. To offer seamless travel and tourism services, IRCTC has connections with hotel bookings together with air ticket bookings.

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Performance of IRCTC Across Various Sectors

IRCTC has set a benchmark with its peerless performance across various sectors. Below depicted are the key sectors covered by IRCTC:

Finance

As per industry experts, IRCTC is said to be a highly profitable venture. The revenue trends across the past decade reveal that IRCTC generates exorbitant as well as coherent revenue through its major segments. These segments are internet ticketing, catering, rail neer (drinking water), together with budget hotels.

Business Strategy

IRCTC across the railway sector enjoys a sole monopoly. The key reason is that IRCTC is the sole service provider when it comes to railway services.      

Marketing     

Because it is the only company across the railway service industry, there is no need to put forward additional public relations or even advertising for the promotion or advertising purpose. IRCTC is performing well within the railway sector. 

Generic     

IRCTS is said to be the stalwart of the Indian railway industry. It is highly known for its incredible internet ticketing business, with years it has gained high popularity. In addition to the ticketing segment, it has also marked its presence across other key segments, including catering services, rail neer (drinking water) and tourism.

Milestones

1. In 2014, on 19th March, about 5,80,000 tickets were booked by passengers in a day.
2. During 2015, on 1st April, a new benchmark was set by IRCTC by booking 13,45,496 tickets in the entire day.  
3. On 2nd April 2015, within a day, approximately 11,00,000 tickets were booked.
4. The inception of Tejas Express took place on 24th May 2017. The Tejas express was initiated to connect Mumbai, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Karmali and      Goa.
5. Alternate Train Accommodation System Scheme, well known by the name of VIKALP was extended to offer benefits to the Waitlisted Passengers. It came into effect from 1st April 2017 across all Mail as well as Express trains running across India. 
6. To offer utmost customer convenience, SMS service was initiated from 2017 onwards. This was to inform passengers about the train delay through text messages. Initially, the service was available only for Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi, Tejas Express and Gatiman. However, from December 2017 onwards, this service was made available for all Jan Shatabdi together with Duronto and Garib Rath trains. By now, approximately 250 trains have access to this exceptional service. 
7.  First semi-private train of India i.e, Tejas came into action from 4th October, 2019. This runs between Lucknow and Delhi.
8. Next semi-private train started running between Mumbai and Ahmedabad from 17th January 2020 onwards. 
9.  A payment wallet was launched by IRCTC with the name of iMudra with the key objective of providing a seamless mechanism for booking railway tickets. Additionally, it offers the facility to pay, send and withdraw money. 
10. The third semi-private train was started by IRCTC between Varanasi and Indore from 16th February 2020 onwards. It was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi, the initiative of this semi-private train was to connect Lord Shiva’s 4 Jyotirlingas. This train was named “Kashi Mahakaal”. 
11. Finally, on 31st December 2020, an e-Ticketing portal and mobile app were launched by IRCTC. The upgraded portal and mobile application allow      passengers to book railway tickets with utmost ease with the seamless presence of a payment gateway. 

Management of IRCTC

IRCTC Company Location

Registered Address

11th Floor, Statesman House,

B-148, Barakhamba Road, Connaught Place,

New Delhi, 110001

Contact Details

Telephone Number: 011-23311263, 011-23311264

Fax: 011-23311259

Official Email: investors@irctc[dot]com

Official Website: http://www[dot]irctc[dot]com

Registrar Address and Contact Details 

Alankit Assignment Ltd. 205-208

Anarkali Complex, Jhandewalan Extension 

New Delhi, 110055

Telephone Number: 011-42541954, 42541234

Fax: 011-41543474

Official Website: http://www[dot]alankit[dot]com

Company Performance

To understand the overall company performance across 2020 and 2021, refer to the below-     depicted table. It enlists quarterly results in crores. 

IRCTC Listings and Indices

Listing Information

IRCTC Forms a Part of Below-Depicted Indices

IRCTC Share Price Target (2022)

The announcement of Union Budget 2022 had a tremendous effect on the IRCTC share price target. One of the key highlights of Budget 2022, announced by Nirmala Sitharaman (Union Finance Minister), new 400 trains named Vande Bharat will be introduced. The idea is to offer better efficiency within a 3-year time frame.

Immediately after this announcement, the IRCTC share price showed an exorbitant jump. On the same day, the Indian Railway PSU stock soared up to INR 899.90 per equity share. 

Due to the total ban on travel, IRCTC share prices have shown a sharp decline. But with the removal of restrictions, the scenario changed completely. Furthermore, the budget announcement made IRCTC the key player in the stock market.

Refer to the depicted table to determine the IRCTC share price target.

Future Prospects of IRCTC

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation is a stalwart when it comes to railway services in India. The Indian Government is wholly responsible for the entire processing initiated by IRCTC. The company profitably operates its diverse components, including budget hotels, food catering, internet ticketing, and tourism. Nationwide, people have known IRCTC since its inception because of its enormous contribution to the Indian economy as well as GDP. 

In addition, the IPO of IRCTC was quite successful. Due to COVID restrictions, the company incurred losses. The key reason was COVID-induced lockdown and a total ban on travelling. But with the removal of restrictions, Indian Railways is all set to raise the bars high with their exceptional services across various sectors.

FAQ’s about IRCTC Share Price