How many static units were impacted because of the ABSS transition? What was the lost revenue from that?
That figure we'll give you later. We'll send you across.
You had guided for adding three new bottling plants in FY '26 and increasing capacity to around 2 million bottles per day. Update on expansion timeline? Also average volume of bottles sold per day in Q1?
Our Board of Directors already approved the expansion of our 2 major plants, one at Danapur and another at Ambernath. And there are a few plants in the pipeline at Prayagraj, at Ranchi, Bhagalpur, Mysuru. We are already on to finalize the tender — start the tendering process. And then it takes around a year and plus. Average number of bottles we sold per day is 14.12 lakh bottle per day.
Can you give some light on the forward booking trends for Q2 and H1? Specifically on niche services like Bharat Gaurav, Maharajas' Express and general services?
Exact figure, I will not be sharing, but we are adding one more rake of Bharat Gaurav train this financial year. And we have already crossed a good figure mark in Maharajas' Express booking and which is much higher than the last year figure. And we are very hopeful to get a very good business in Tourism. Already, we have shown a growth of more than 20% in the first quarter itself.
What is the total count of tickets for Q1 FY26? Any guidance for Q2 growth in terms of ticket?
We have booked 13.88 lakh tickets daily average. Total number of tickets is INR12.63 crores. All our business which we do is a seasonal business. So it will be comparable to Q2 last year.
What is the trend of AC bookings over the past few quarters?
We'll send you across. Thank you.
On the decline in catering revenue — we had expected multiple growth levers like rising Vande Bharat count, Swiggy/Zomato tie-up, expansion outside railways, and price hikes. But growth seems subdued for two quarters. What is the problem in Catering?
Our overall revenue increased by around 4% and Tourism grew by 21% and IT business also grew by 9%. Our growth in Rail Neer remained flat and a slight dip in Catering — the reason being there was a temporary phenomenon. Last year, same quarter, we ran election special and a sizable amount, around INR 32 crores worth of revenue generated from that business, whereas this year, it was only INR4 crores to INR5 crores. So that was the main reason we find about Catering. Otherwise, the e-catering part grew by more than 30%. Additionally, we are in a transition phase whereby an opportunity through ABSS station — Amrit Bharat Station — where upgradation of stations are taking place. So the static unit on those stations could not generate license fee for this quarter. Once ABSS station is put in place, it is opening a very big door for IRCTC Catering business.
On Rail Neer — all 20 plants are operational, but top line was flat. We expected benefit of improving utilization. Any specific reason?
Our capacity utilization has improved — earlier last year, June 2024, our capacity utilization was 86.8%, whereas this quarter, it is 87.04%. But there were two issues. One is our Bilaspur plant — it is not working at the moment because of some issue with the state government regarding the extraction of water. We are hopeful to start it again. Secondly, the election special which we ran last year has a component of Rail Neer also — that is not there this time. And thirdly, we have introduced a new 500 ml bottle for Vande Bharat train. Compared to last year quarter June 2024, a number of Vande Bharat trains have been introduced in which we are giving only 500 mL bottles. So despite our utilization improved, because of 500 mL bottles, the revenue capturing is less.
If I look at depreciation expense, it is relatively flat Q-o-Q. But last quarter we capitalized our new office building worth INR400 crores. Sequentially the expense should have increased, but it continues to remain flat. Can you explain?
Our building has two parts. One part is land — as per the accounting standard, that land value has to be taken separately from the building part, from the construction part. And out of INR400 crores, the major chunk of our amount of investment in this building is of land, which appreciates generally, doesn't depreciate. So we have capitalized only INR40 crores (approx.) of total investment and depreciation is counted on to that.
Can you provide the breakup of Internet Ticketing revenue into convenience fee and the other non-convenience component?
Two-third of total IT revenue is convenience fee and 1/3 is non-convenience fee.
Can you provide a breakup of total tickets booked — AC vs non-AC sitting?
This quarter, we have booked 12.63 crores of ticket. AC ticket of INR6.4 crores, non-AC ticket is INR4.74 crores.
There was news about a 20% rebate on holiday packages during the festive season. Who bears this rebate — railways? And will the onward and return journey count as one or two transactions for convenience fee?
I must compliment Ministry of Railways for bringing this 20% discount in this festive season of Diwali and Chhath. We have no impact on our convenience fee because both — we will be having 2 PNRs, one for onward journey, another is for return journey. And convenience fee, we'll be charging the same rate. So this will certainly add to our business because of running of many trains, but no impact on our revenue.
Can you give an update on the total number of trains equipped with onboarded catering services and how many are managed via the tendering process?
All the units which we are working is through tendering process only, and this is around 1,300 trains, 1,295 is the number. And it changes every time a new train is introduced or new service is added to that.
What are the new initiatives taken in the Tourism segment? Any newer plans or categories?
We are already in process of adding one more Bharat Gaurav rake. In addition, the Golden Chariot of Karnataka government, which we are running on an MOU, that is also getting booked this season — we are expected to run 3 to 5 departures this financial year. Maharajas' Express has already seen a 20% growth. And during this financial year, we are including many new circuits like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Circuit, Dev Bhoomi Kedarnath Kartik Swami tour, Ganga Ramayana Yatra from Secunderabad, and Bharat-Bhutan Mystic Mountain Yatra.
On the payment aggregation approval — what is the timeline by when you could go live and start seeing monetization?
We are already into this business. With the license which we are trying to get from RBI, in-principle approval we have already got and 6 months' time have been given by them to submit our paper. And then it will take around 6 to 8 months in getting a license. So total from now, if we say, it may be around 12 to 18 months. We'll be able to get this license. And that will help us in capturing business other than our ticketing also.
On the non-convenience part of the ticketing business — it has not seen a very meaningful jump. What can drive growth ahead of convenience fee growth?
In non-convenience fee, on a year-on-year basis this quarter, we grew by 17%. And any double-digit figure, to my knowledge, is a good one, but we are not satisfied. We are planning to do many things. We are planning to float a tender for advertisement with sole tendering rights, using artificial intelligence to get the ad and to get the cross-selling also. Secondly, we are planning to have our OTA platform ready, which is unified portal — also in the tendering process. That will give us a very good conversion by cross-selling. Then if you see the UPI CC, which has a share of 12% and is growing with 18%, that will also help us.
On Internet Ticketing segment margins — what initiatives drove better margins versus last year? Was it higher UPI share or better cost controls?
UPI share is 48.72% this quarter. And the margin increased because of non-convenience.