New Delhi: Looking to streamline its catering operations, IRCTC has now forayed into the packaging of sugar and creamer sachets, a move that is expected to save it about Rs 1 crore annually.
The packaging facility has been set up at the state-of-the-art central kitchen of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) at Noida. The sachets produced there will be supplied throughout the entire railway network.
"We have installed packaging machines at the central kitchen at Noida to provide the passengers with reliable standards of these products, which are necessary ingredients of hot beverages like tea and coffee," said IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director, AK Manocha.
The production capacity at the central kitchen is of 7,20,000 sachets per month while the total requirement over the entire railway network has been estimated to be a monthly 16 lakh sachets. "Initially, we will cover east zone and then extend it to the entire railway network once we install more packaging machines," said Manocha, adding that the move to produce its own sachets is expected to save the organisation a yearly Rs 1 crore.
IRCTC, the railways' catering arm, is also involved in e-ticketing, tourism and online shopping. It provides catering services on 35 premier trains like Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi, besides e-catering for 1,520 non-pantry car trains.
"Our aim is to bring about perceptible changes in passenger amenities and, by diversifying into sachet packaging, IRCTC's catering service has taken a big leap forward," he added.
The central kitchen, also known as Food Factory, provides quality food to corporate clients too, like Samsung, Oxford University Press and McGraw Hill Publications.
