You may be wondering what the full form of IRCTC is. This acronym is used in many different areas but is most commonly used within the Indian railway department. It is a public-sector enterprise owned by the Ministry of Indian Railways. Its full form is: “Information and Reservation Centre for Indian Railways”.
IRCTC is a sub-company of Indian Railways
The IRCTC was founded on 27 September 1999 with a capital of 20 crores. It was initially created to improve catering services in Indian Railways and promote tourism via the Railways. It expanded its operations after 3 August 2002. IRCTC has played a significant role in the development of Indian Railways. It has facilitated online railway ticketing and e-ticketing, and on the first day of the service, 27 tickets were booked. IRCTC hired TCS to design the IRCTC website and mobile app, which were then made available to the public.
The company has signed a non-binding MoU with NIIF to participate in the private rail tender. The tender details will be finalized next year. IRCTC is participating in three more cluster bids and awaiting the results from the Ministry of Railways. Recently, the IRCTC board approved a stock split, reducing the face value of equity shares from Rs 10 to Rs 2 to improve the liquidity of the capital market.
It is a public sector enterprise
The government has proposed to sell 2.4 crore shares of IRCTC in its offer of sale. This share sale would represent around 15% of IRCTC’s equity share capital. The additional 0.8 crore shares would account for 5% of the paid-up equity share capital. In total, the offered size will be around 20 percent of the company’s outstanding equity shares. The price proposed under the offer of sale route represents a 16% discount on today’s closing price.
The IRCTC full form has been enjoying strong earnings since its inception. The company reported a profit margin of 79% in July 2020. The company’s overall performance was exceptional, despite being a public sector enterprise. The organisation has diversified its business segments and has become highly successful in internet ticketing, catering services, packaged drinking water, and budget hotels. Few organisations in the country can boast of being profitable in such a broad array of sectors.