Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Q1 FY 2023 Earnings Conference Call of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, IRCTC. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star then zero on your touchtone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Devang Bhatt. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thanks, Rochelle. Good afternoon, everyone. On behalf of IDBI Capital, I welcome you to the Q1 FY 2023 earnings con call of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, or IRCTC. On behalf of IDBI Capital, I would like to thank the management for giving us an opportunity to host the call. We have with us management represented by Ms. Rajni Hasija, Chairperson and Managing Director, and Mr. Ajit Kumar, Director of Finance and CFO. I would now like to hand over the call to the management for opening remarks. Later, we can open the floor for Q&A. Thank you, and over to you, Rajni ma'am.
Thank you, Devang. A very good afternoon to everybody. At the outset, let me welcome you all to this conference call of IRCTC Limited for the quarter that has ended on 30th June 2022. I hope that you and your dear ones are in good health, and spirit of the Independence Day is going on as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is being celebrated by all of us. Yesterday, our company has announced unaudited financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2023, and the same has been disclosed on both stock exchanges too. I will first give a brief overview about the first quarter of this financial year, after which our [Director] of Finance who is CFO of the company too will provide all the details of the performance of all business segments.
After which we shall have a question hour, question and answer session. In the first quarter of the current financial year, I think, this particular quarter was without any restriction, since the pandemic had hit all of us, and IRCTC business model has once again demonstrated its resilient nature and its ability to scale up. First quarter of this financial year, the revenue has reached at INR 853 crore, and we saw a strong growth of 23% quarter-over-quarter, and more than 2.55x , 2.5 x on the year-over-year. Given that the base quarter had the impact of pandemic. If you compare with the previous quarter, there is a 23% growth.
Importantly, the revenue for the first quarter of the financial year 2023 has not only surpassed the pre-COVID level, but it is at all-time high as regards the quarter run rate is concerned. In the last quarter of the last financial year, the catering segment has been the main driver of the quarter-over-quarter revenue growth. The revenue for the segment has also touched a new high. Similarly, the railway segment has also surpassed its peak revenue of the pre-pandemic period, and also shown a better capacity utilization of all the plants. As you would be aware about the difference in the profitability of our business segment, the change in the business mix resulted in EBITDA margin coming to 37.6% versus 45.8% year-over-year and 41.1% quarter-over-quarter.
As I shared earlier, that the headwinds of the pandemic behind the travel and hospitality can look forward for a better financial year this year and beyond too. IRCTC business segments can also look up to further improve performance in such industry environment. Without taking much time of yours, I shall now hand over my call, this particular call, to my colleague and CFO of the company, Ajit Kumar, to brief you about the financial and segmental performance of the company. Thank you.
Good afternoon, everybody, and I hope everyone in the spirit of independence there is, I mean, joy in the air. I shall first give a brief overview about this Q1 FY 20 23 results, and then we'll have the question and answer session. Q1 FY 2023 revenue saw another quarter of strong improvement both on quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year basis. The revenue of INR 853 crores grew by 23% quarter-over-quarter and by 250% year-over-year, given impact of the pandemic in the base quarter. Of course, this base, I mean, not right for the comparison, but this is the fact that this comparison we are taking.
Given that catering segment which had a relatively lower margin also saw sharp increase in revenue share, the overall EBITDA margin 37.6% versus 45.8% year-on-year and 40.1% quarter-on-quarter. Our absolute EBITDA has grown by 15.7% quarter-on-quarter to INR 321 crore, which is an all-time high. Let me now move to the business segment for the company. Internet Ticketing, this segment continued to demonstrate its resilience, and revenue for the quarter was at INR 301 crore, which is more than double year-on-year and grew by 3% quarter-on-quarter. While the EBIT margin was in a quarter-on-quarter decline, but it is a similar level to that in Q3 FY 2022 and was at 34.5% in Q1 FY 2023.
EBIT quarter-on-quarter declined due to reversal of provisions in the second quarter, that is Q4, for around INR 14 crore roughly. Catering segment. Now, this segment has further improved the performance over the strong quarter-on-quarter growth seen in Q4 FY 2022. The revenue for this catering segment has touched a new high at INR 352 crore, which implies a growth of 32.3% quarter-on-quarter and over 5x growth year-on-year, as the base quarter had restrictions, of course, due to travel restrictions and the meals served on the train, they all had their restrictions. The share of catering segment to overall revenue increased to 41.3% versus 38.5% in and 23.3% in Q1 FY 2022.
Importantly, the EBIT margin for this segment has improved to 12% versus 9.4% quarter-on-quarter and a loss on year-on-year basis. However, given that it has relatively lower margin, the overall margin has seen moderation in the current quarter. The Rail Neer segment. It has seen Q1 FY 2022 revenue of INR 83.6 crore, a sharp growth of 61.2% quarter-on-quarter. As a result, the EBIT margin has moved back to its double digits at around 11% versus a loss in quarter four. Now this tourism that includes state tourism segment, has saw a growth of 43.8% quarter-on-quarter to INR 115 crore. Importantly, it has reported positive EBIT of INR 22 million versus a loss in the nine preceding quarters due to the travel restrictions and the pandemic.
For Q1 FY 2023, the cash and bank balances and the net worth of the company as of the end of the quarter is INR 2,175 crore and INR 2,132 crore respectively. That brings to the end of my opening remarks. Now we can straightaway move to the question and answer session. Thank you.
Thank you very much, sir. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question at this time may enter star and then one on their touchtone telephones. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may enter star and two. Participants are requested to please use handsets while asking a question. To ask a question, please enter star one now. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question is from the line of Jinesh Joshi from Prabhudas Lilladher. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity and congratulations on the steady quarter. Madam, I have a question on the catering fees. I see the revenue at about INR 352 crores in this quarter. Does this take into account the effect of enhancement in license fee due to tariff hike? Should this be the steady quarterly run rate from here on? Also secondly, if I look at the catering expense in this quarter as a percentage of catering revenue, it was about 74%. Pre-COVID, this number was in the band of 62%-65%. Is there any element of one-off here?
Well, your answer to your first question, Mr. Jinesh, is that the impact of the sale assessment has not been taken in this quarter because once we complete the assessment, then some time has to be given to the licensee to arrange for the funds. We are still in process of completing that. Because of heavy traffic moving on the trains, the peak season is over. Now the lean period is now left. That is being completed. Maybe the next quarter, in the present quarter we would be completing, but the impact may be seen in the third quarter only.
Got it. This INR 352 crore of quarterly run rate has a further possibility of increase from here on, right?
It looks like that only.
Yeah. Madam, if you-
In this quarter we were able to tender most of the trains. You could see many of the units which were lying or otherwise closed, or the trains which were not earlier tendered because of all the trains were running on the ready-to-eat model. All trains now are being brought on the tendering mode. Still, you will see, you may see some more improvement in the next quarter if the more trains we are able to tender out.
Sure, madam. On the expense part, if you can explain why the cost was higher at 74%.
See, it happened in the overdue payments which were to be made have been made. As the payments earlier used to be 62%-65%. Now the expenses have gone up to the tune of 74% is because of some adjustment of the licensee dues has been done.
Yes, our payment of expenditure for the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, where the licensee requires lot of handholding and the continuity of the business. These payments we have started making, which we were not making earlier. That is why you could see the difference.
This is a steady number to look at or, how should we, kind of-
It will remain in that tone only because the licensing payment for the RFD has to continue. It's a continuous process.
Got it. Secondly, madam, I have two bookkeeping questions. I think, in notes to accounts, we have mentioned that there is an arbitration award of INR 74 crore, which has been announced in the favor of a certain licensee. If you can explain what this exactly pertains to. Secondly, there is also some anti-profiteering notice of about INR 50 crore. What is this matter? If you can just explain these two parts to me.
Well, anti-profiteering, I would like to answer your second question first. In the anti-profiteering, when the tax regime had changed, so some changes were to be made, and we are also fighting it because our environment of working, okay, is not standard as compared to the others. Here, the pricing is controlled by Ministry of Railways. We have challenged this particular case, and the case is still sub judice, so I will not be able to comment, make a specific comment in this forum on that. But when the distribution of this particular railway's packaged drinking water is concerned, the environment in which it is distributed and produced is very different, and the rate, how it is decided, is very different from the market. Same set of rules cannot be applied to this particular segment.
Based on that, we have taken up the matter in the higher court, and we are contesting that. Secondly, one arbitration case which went against us. We have also filed an appeal against it. Matter is still sub judice. The impact, we are waiting for the results. I think it's, hearings have started, but it's going to take some more time before we comment upon this.
Madam, just in case if the verdict is announced in the favor of these licensees, will the contingent liability fall upon us or on Railways? Because the notes to account says that it is Railways. I just want to clarify this bit.
Contingent liability may not fall.
Under arbitration only.
Yeah, it is still under arbitration.
What I was asking is just in case if the arbitration goes in favor of the licensee, who will pay that amount?
Why should I think when I'm contesting a case, why should I think that the licensee will win? I will contest this case with the whole spirit.
Amount is not IRCTC period. That's a Railway period.
Moreover, this particular amount which they were talking about is not of the IRCTC period when the trains were taken over by IRCTC. This amount is of the period when the trains were being run by the Indian Railways. In that case, it can only happen. We can only pay them back once we get the money from the Indian Railways. That is what our point is.
Got it. This explains this.
Got it.
Yeah, yeah.
This is not our period. That is why, but we are contesting with the whole lot so that this liability doesn't fall on the other party also. We are part and parcel of Indian Railways.
Thank you, madam. This clarifies this doubt. Lastly, if you can just give me the breakdown between convenience and non-convenience revenue for the quarter.
Well.
Convenience fee ka number.
The convenience fee this quarter has been INR 207 crores. Right. If you ask me, the total business including that was INR 308 crores. Out of it, INR 207 crore is that. Nearly INR 100 crores is on the non-convenience fee.
Got it, Madam.
[INR 100 crore is on account of a] non-convenience fee.
Sure. Thank you.
Nearly 50% of that.
Thank you. Yeah.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Pritesh Chheda from Lucky Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Ma'am, can you give us the ticket numbers for quarter one, and what is the status on or update on the 2S class?
Number of tickets booked in first quarter has been around 11 crores 58 lakhs, and your daily average comes out to be 12 lakh 73 thousand tickets.
Okay. Ma'am, update on the 2S class, which was supposed to be,
2S, as we had anticipated earlier, it used to be nearly 38%. Now in this particular quarter, the overall percentage of the 2S has reduced to 26.9%.
No, it was this, notification was valid until June 2022, right? Until June 2022, the 2S will be booked via-
Yes.
What is any update there on that about 2S?
In the month of July, the 2S % is more or less nearly same.
Okay. It still continues to be on the internet form of booking.
Yeah. Our average of the previous quarter has been 12.73 because it was a peak season, as I mentioned in one of my earlier calls. July also saw. Normally, July is a rainy season. We see some decline. Some decline had been there, marginal decline, which will be overcome. Now the festive season has again started, so we will compensate in this month.
Okay. Okay.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Deep Shah from BNK Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. Ma'am, first on the catering piece, if you could help us understand better, what are the margin levers here and, do we see any pricing improvement happening, anytime soon, given that now there is a clear change in terms of user preferences, in terms of eating out? Secondly, ma'am, on the tour, so just continuing the question asked by the previous person, do we see this number falling down drastically given that a lot of trains or tours is now taken out of being reserved online? Thank you.
Answering your second question first, that is, number of tours being declined, total number of bookings getting reduced. As we had mentioned that this was a temporary kind of a revenue available with the IRCTC, which was to be reduced. But as we have noticed that the reduction is not as drastic as we were anticipating. Yes, there is going to be some downfall as far as the number of tickets is concerned. Last quarter, we had overcome that by the volumes, and our bookings were much higher than the previous year average when the tour booking was running in a full swing. Since the impact of that is going to be more effective from July, we normally see the average booking happening to the tune of 11 lakh, few thousand more.
At times it is 50,000 more and few days. The ARP booking of the festival season has also started, so some gain will be there from that side. Tour tickets will have some impact, but should be overcome by the other factors also. Answering your question on the catering. You wanted to ask the margins in the catering. Normally in the entire catering business, our margins are ranging from 14%-18%. This is the total margin when we take each contract's own margin. Since the preferences of the people are changing, so at the same time we are also showing some better growth in the e-catering.
In the last quarter, as compared to our 20,000 or 21,000 meal per day, our average booking have been more than 35,000, nearly 35,000 orders, meals a day. In fact, many hikes were seen in the month of June and August also. Here we had made a record booking in the month of August. More than 50,000 meals were booked. In one of the occasion on June 12, we had booked around 44,000 meals in a day. The preferences, if they change, the other sector is gaining. Our revenue, total revenue from the monthly average in the year 2021-2022 was INR 1.67 crores. However, in this quarter it has been INR 2.63 crores. There is a jump of 57.5% in the e-catering.
Earlier, the train side vending trains were giving on section to section basis. If you ask me the number on the train side vending, I can tell you the more trains have been given on end to end. 247 trains have been given end to end, where you get a better license fee. The sectional trains, nearly 363 trains we have given on a TSV contract in the sections. That makes a total of 610 trains. In addition to this, of course, you have trains with the pantry car, 436 trains. That makes a total of nearly 1,046 trains. Which was not there earlier.
It is the hard work of the IRCTC team that we were able to award these contracts and many more such contracts are in the pipeline. We are going to award more. That will have some impact on the catering business certainly.
Thanks, ma'am. This is really helpful. Just to follow up on that tour, if I may. Are a lot of trains taken out from being reserved or the trains are still existing on reserved basis and some coaches are only allocated for reserved?
I would say, PD, it was other way around because there was no offline booking, so unreserved trains were made reserved temporarily. Now, many of them have been made unreserved again.
Right, ma'am. Right. This is very helpful. Thanks a lot.
It was a temporary kind of a reign which IRCTC tapped and our revenue could sustain. Not only that, the traffic which has been diverted in the reserved segment, we have been able to retain because our daily average ticket booking is nearly 11 lakh or so. You can say that we have been able to retain few customers in the reserved segment fully, but at the same time, some segment of the unreserved, which has not been converted into reserved yet, is still reserved.
That's perfect, ma'am. Thank you so much. If I can squeeze in one more question, ma'am. Could you help us with occupancy of the Tejas trains that we are running? Because I see when we track online, we see an uptick in their occupancy. Is that assessment correct?
Yes. The occupancy has been good in the first quarter of this year. The trains have done a fantastic job. The revenue was nearly INR 41 crore, and it has given us a profit more than INR 5 crore.
Right, ma'am. This is very helpful. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All the best.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, before we take the next question, we'd like to remind participants that you may enter star one to ask a question. Our next question is from the line of [Sridhar Manké] from SIS Global. Please go ahead.
Hello, ma'am. Am I audible to you?
Yeah, yeah, Sridharji, you are very much audible.
Yeah. Thank you, ma'am. I have a couple of questions. First is about the retiring room upgradation. You had mentioned in the last call that new contracts were to be awarded for retiring room upgradation. Any progress on that? And would it help in increasing the revenue, or has it already helped in that regard?
Yes, of course. Because in the retiring room category, we have recently done a roadshow, and we were successful in awarding 23 such contracts in all the zones. Rest of contracts in the pipeline, and we are also in process of taking over more and more retiring rooms from the railways. First, the possession of those retiring rooms are to be taken, and then they are to be tendered out. Then we again plan, give the tender for the upgradation. A few of our tenders are opening by after eighteenth of August or so. You can say the retiring room upgradation work is going on full swing, and the results will be forthcoming in this quarter.
Okay. All right.
Actual commissioning will happen only in the third quarter.
Thanks, ma'am. The second question was about Tejas, whether we have achieved breakeven or not, but I think you have already mentioned that. I'll probably take the third question. Can you give us an idea about how the IRCTC air segment is performing?
Well, in IRCTC air segment, IRCTC has performed not on that happy note because our average segment being booked is nearly 5,500 per day. Our revenue has been in the three. You can say the income from booking and cancellation, if you ask me, it's we could earn three, nearly INR 3 crore of that. Some changes also taken place that in the month of June we have implemented our increased license fee, increased convenience fee model. Earlier we were charging INR 50, now we are charging INR 100. We are trying to bring more and more offers from various banks and other payment methods so that the booking on our portal can also increase.
Okay. All right. My third and last question, madam, would be regarding the opening note that you have mentioned on the call. It's about the e-Ticketing margin that has declined very marginally from quarter-over-quarter. And you've mentioned that it was because of a reversal of provision of INR 14 crore. Can you shed more light on that? What was that and what exactly is that?
Well, some adjustment has been done in the books. Last year what we had done, we had PRP provisioning, you know. PRP provisioning is done in the accounts. We had done more provisioning. That we had reversed last year. It was more. Income was more in the total. As far as the specific Internet Ticketing segment is concerned, some impacts of unreserved ticketing is still there. Now the results will be seen in this quarter because the first quarter is really challenging for all the internet companies.
Okay. All right. Thank you, ma'am.
Our ticketing has grown. If you ask me the overall average of the ticketing in this quarter, it has been more than the overall average of the previous year also. It is INR 12.73 lakhs per day. It is quite high.
Right. Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you so much, ma'am. That's all from me. Thank you.
Very welcome.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, a reminder again, you may enter star one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of Akshay Bhor from Citadel. Please go ahead.
Hi, ma'am. Thank you for the opportunity. Starting with this, may I clarify first up on this, 2S question again. You know, there is a worry on a notification that from June onwards you will not be booking any unreserved you know tickets that you give during the pandemic. This one, understand that is you stop booking on those trains right now. Is that understanding correct?
I would like to make the procedure clear to you, all of you. Whatever inventory is offered for sale, it is offered by the Indian Railways, whether reserved or unreserved. That particular inventory and database for that is being maintained by Indian Railways. We call it forming a train. A train is formed by a database section of Indian Railways in various zones. Those trains were offered to us for sale, and we could sell it in a better manner, and we sold it. We earned good amount for us. Since these trains are no longer considered worthy for giving on a reserved segment, the Ministry of Railways has withdrawn them. That was a temporary kind of a revenue which came to us for one and a half year, and we tapped it very, very well. Still our booking is on a higher note.
When we initially started in the pre-COVID levels, our daily average was nearly 8.5 lakh tickets a day. That was the maximum inventory being sold by us in the reserved segments. Now we are selling nearly 11 lakh tickets per day. We have already tapped the good potential. Nearly 80% of the booking is happening through us, through IRCTC. Reserved segment, unreserved segment, which has temporarily come to us now gradually has gone back. The booking has shown some impact, but at the same time we have gained from the reserved segment and the new people who have now shifted from offline booking to online booking.
Ma'am, we understand that, you know, the
The impact has been there. It is, but it is not going to be that much. It is going to be covered through the festival booking and other bookings happening through our website.
No, no, we just want to understand, you know, from when does the, you know, impact, you know, is visible. That's the only thing we want to understand. We understand that, you know, you-
It is in a phased manner, Sridhar ji. It started in a phased manner. Few trains went back in May, few trains went back in June, few trains went back in July.
Got it, ma'am. That's super helpful. We appreciate that, you know, you've gone from 75% internet penetration to now more than 80%, and that's why the overall pie has increased. Ma'am, on a steady-state basis, that 8.5 [lakh] which you are doing, can that number be, you know, 10 lakh per day? Is that like a fair understanding or it can be lower than that as well?
Few days it can be more also. Even more. It can reach up to 13 lakh also. For the peak season more. Peak booking of Diwali is going to be near, and we normally book 120 days. When I talk about 11 lakh, it is the average booking I'm talking about.
Okay. I see. Ma'am, this is ex of tours, right? I mean, all of this we are talking about ex of tours.
Could you be a bit louder, sir?
Yeah. Ma'am, I'm saying this is all ex of tours that you can book, INR 10 lakh per day as well, from the earlier INR 8.5 lakh per day.
Your question is not clear, Sridhar ji.
Sir, can you please adjust? If you're on speakerphone, switch to handset because your voice is a bit muffled.
Okay. Is it better, ma'am?
A little better.
Yeah, ma'am. Just wanted to clarify. The INR 8.5 lakh per day number that you were doing pre-COVID, what will be corresponding number now if you adjust for the tour bookings that you will not do anymore, you know, if it is catering versus booking tickets?
See, on a personal note, I would like to book 100%. Normally it is booked because few bookings are going to be on the offline mode. Whatever inventory is available to us and whatever how many people we are offered through our website, we are going to handle them. We are ready to handle as much as we can. Normally, as of now, we are booking nearly 11 lakh tickets in a day, in spite of the fact that the tours is gone in many trains.
Oh, okay. Not completely gone, right? That's my only question. When tours is completely gone, that INR 11 lakh
I cannot tell you because I told you we don't make the trains. There are many trains, many such trains. I think same question is being asked again and again. For the benefit of others also, I would like to explain that the trains is being hired by the Railways. They were given to us for sale. We sold them very happily. Now in a phased manner, Railway has withdrawn that from the reserved segment. They have again come in the unreserved segment. Few trains were with us even in May. Few were in tours category, was also with us in June, and few were also there in July. There is a probability that few may be there in the month of August as well.
Got it, ma'am. This is super clear, and sorry to be asking the same question again.
It is done in phases.
Okay. Fair enough. This is super clear now. Ma'am, just on the catering segment, obviously very strong performance. Just want to understand from a full year FY 2023 basis, what kind of revenue are you targeting from catering, if you have any number in mind?
In one of my previous conference calls, we had said that in the catering, if everything goes fine and nothing goes wrong in the form of a COVID-like thing. We would be touching nearly more than, I think, even more than INR 1,500 crore also.
Yeah.
In a year. Right?
Got it, ma'am. Perfect. Just on the margins, both Rail Neer, we know that there are some adjustments and you should pay some you know share of the pie to Railways now. Are these margins in Rail Neer and catering you know sustainable and can you work with these margins that you are talking in this quarter?
Still sustainable, but for the current year, we have approached Ministry because we have already paid INR 21 crore in the previous year. This year, because of the loss in production because of the COVID and other things, we would not be paying the fee, the sharing of the revenue, not payable in fact. We have already approached Ministry of Railways that it is not payable during the current year.
My question was the margins that you reported in Q1 first quarter.
Yes. We have-
This quarter we have made.
This quarter we have made up a good profit in the catering in the railway segment. If you can see. Let me see. Yeah.
No, ma'am, we have the numbers. Yeah.
A couple of minutes and I will be happy to share with you. In railway segment, the profit has been nearly INR 9.118 crores profit. Last year, it in last quarter, the losses were to the tune of INR 24 crore, out of which INR 21 crore we paid to Indian Railways.
Got it, ma'am. Thank you and all the very best.
Okay. Thank you.
You are very welcome.
Mm.
Our next question is from the line of [Madhuchanda Dey] from MC Pro. Please go ahead.
Hello, ma'am. Thanks for the opportunity. I have couple of questions. First is most of them data keeping. One is, in this first quarter, what was the capacity utilization in the railway segment?
It has been more than 70% in all three months.
Okay. Ma'am.
Well, I can share you in the month of April, the capacity utilization has been 74%, and in May it was 82%, June it was 83.48%. July I will share in the next quarter.
Okay, ma'am, what is the ramp up schedule for the railway business?
It is again cracking, ma'am. Can you please repeat your question?
My question is, ma'am, what is the
I'm sorry to interrupt. Madhuchanda, if you are connected on speakerphone, please switch to handset only while you're asking your question.
Can you hear me now? Am I better?
Yes. Yes.
Yeah, ma'am, what is the capacity ramp up schedule for railway in the coming few years?
It is scheduled. Our Simhadri plant is almost ready. We may commission it any time. We are waiting for one license. That one upgradation, that 1.2 lakh liters will be there very soon with us. Our Bhusawal plant is also nearing completion, may be ready near October. Two plants will be opened up this financial year before December, of course. Our earlier capacity, maximum capacity has been 14.8 lakh liters a day. That will now ramp up from 14.8. You can add 2 lakh more to that, 16.8 we will be achieving before December.
In the next few years, what's the plan, ma'am, for railway?
Our Bhubaneswar plant will come up, our Vijayawada plant will come up, our Kota plant will also come up. You can add 3 more lakhs.
INR 3 lakh.
It is going to be INR 16.8 + 3, nearly INR 19 lakh.
By end of FY 2024?
Yeah. Should be.
Okay, ma'am. That's really helpful. Just one last question on the catering business. As you mentioned, that you're going to tender more and more in the new trains. What is the maximum you know capacity that you can reach in this business, and where are you in that journey?
See, it all depends how many trains Railways starts. If Railways is going to run more trains, we will be providing more catering to the trains. As of now, whatever trains have been offered to us for providing catering, be it any form, be it with the pantry car or without pantry car. Few trains, people were ready to take on end-to-end basis. Those have been tendered out on end-to-end basis. Few trains on segmental kind of a tendering. That also has been tried out. Our nearly 333 trains, TSV tenders are still in the pipeline, and few are in the process of commissioning. If Railways is starting more trains, ma'am, we would be tendering more trains.
Just to get a sense of the number, suppose, of the total trains which are run by Indian Railways, in what percentage of trains are you already providing catering in some or the other form?
Railway is running many passenger trains and many intercity trains. We try to provide the train catering on the trains where we have at least one overnight. Some prospect of the sale is there. That you can get licensee. Catering provision in all the trains without licensee doesn't make any sense. Wherever the business probability is more and the directions are there to provide the catering, there we provide the catering in the trains. As of now, we are providing nearly 436 trains with the pantry car and 610 trains in the TSV segment. It is if there is a demand, we'll be able to supply in them, even in the intercity trains also.
333 tenders have been floated so far, which will come into
They are in process of decision. Because few sectors which are unpopular, they generally don't go very easily. You have to work very hard to put them on track. It is a demand and supply. Where demand is more, so immediate tendering is completed. Where the demand is less, so licensee also understands that. It's a pure business, ma'am.
Okay. Ma'am, one just last question, and this is a slightly long-term question. Like, we have done exceedingly well, I mean, on monopoly in the Internet Ticketing business. You know, we are almost reaching you know, our peak penetration level over there. I mean, of course, there will be a single digit growth. Even in the catering, we have progressed very fast, but the future growth is contingent on the new trains being made available. Of course, Rail Neer, yeah, there is capacity expansion, but that is not going to be a kind of a game changer. Going forward, I mean, looking beyond FY 2023, what could be the key growth drivers for this company? I think incremental growth.
I know, you know, a steady-state growth is always going to be there, you know, because all these segments, you have a monopoly, people will travel. Incremental growth driver, significant growth driver for this company beyond FY 2023.
The Internet Ticketing segment, as you yourself mentioned, that it is going to be 82, nearly 81% we have already achieved.
Right.
There is going to be some slow motion in that. In that case, company is now focusing on the non-convenience fee resources more in addition to the convenience fee resources. One key driver will be focusing on the other than Internet Ticketing segment and then cashing the presence of IRCTC in the internet and the asset monetization, digital asset monetization that we have started. We have floated the tender for that. We are hoping for some good results. Secondly, we would also be now looking forward as far as the growth is concerned in the tourism sector. In the tourism sector, we have already proliferated. Because of the COVID, we were not running our outbound tours. This time we are planning the better outbound tours by way of appointing DMCs for all the countries.
That we would be undertaking. We would be running many trains in the Bharat Gaurav segment also, where the turnover is better than the other trains. That is also going to be a key driver. State Tejas, as you have seen that after a gap of two years, it has now picked up. We are hoping for signing of MoU with the other states also. That could be a very good revenue potential in the days to come for IRCTC. It increased potential by way of adding new railway plant, as I've answered earlier. One more plant in Kota is going to come. By increasing the capacity utilization of these plants further.
In infrastructure sector, the retiring rooms, budget hotels, because we are going to tender out the budget hotels on a different rate. The license fee, incremental license fee, can be anticipated from that also. Retiring room upgradation is another area where we are focusing. Bus booking, where we are really focusing very, very well, and the results are very encouraging. These are the few incremental growth vectors where IRCTC would be now focusing on.
That's a very helpful answer, ma'am. Thanks and all the best. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question is from the line of Rahul Jain from Dolat Capital. Please go ahead.
Hello, ma'am.
Mr. Jain, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Am I audible?
Yeah, yeah, Rahulji, you are audible.
Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Thanks for the opportunity.
I can hear some other voices at the back also.
Is it any better now?
Little better.
Yes. Congratulations on very strong numbers. I just want to ask one question in terms of cost. Can you share the segmental costs which we have on the fixed basis are now back to the normalized run rate basis, and hereon we will see the growth basis cost increase? Or there are certain costs which are yet to go back to the normalized run rate?
I think same rate is going to be there.
Right. Secondly, from the 2x volume, whatever impact which we may see may happen, but what is the impact we may see on the non-ticketing revenue within the Internet Ticketing segment? Do you see any correlation to that as well?
Well, some impact in the overall industry has been seen after the things have resumed, because when the travel happens, the hit on the website increases, so the advertisement potential goes up. Indirect impact will be there, Rahulji.
Right. On the Tejas side, we have done very well in this particular quarter. How is the pipeline looking on this front in the coming quarters?
State series is a very different kind of a business where it require lot of inputs and lot of day-to-day interaction with the state. It's because the money has to come from a welfare scheme which has to be brought to the common man through IRCTC in the form of services. It takes time. If it is approved in a day, the trains start moving, then the revenue comes very fast. We are in talks with the seven such states, and hopefully our MoU are going to be signed soon. Once they are signed and the trains are announced, the impact will be seen and the series of the trains will run. This year we are hoping for the good because our MoU is in a conclusive stage in many states.
The seventh state that talking about one which you are contributing to the current quarter.
I cannot give out the number, name of the states because these are confidential, because many private players also talk to them.
Right. Just last question from my side. On the tourism outbound side, have you seen any revenue coming in from that part or it is yet to happen given the COVID and travel restrictions?
We have started. Only three tours have gone in the outbound because till the e-Visa is not there in many countries. We have just started. Whatever we have started, that has been sold in full. Now we have appointed DMCs, so we need not do tender again and again. We would be doing if the more and more country opens, we would be selling it at a faster rate. Although we have also blocked the inventory with the airlines so that we can start in this season. Generally, for outbound tours, November, December is the season when we sell more tours. At October also, of course. We have-
Last question.
Gathered our resources together, hoping for the e-Visa to start very soon. Let's see. Let's hope for the good.
Last question. Any update on the payment gateway initiative you were trying outside IRCTC app?
In this AGM, we are bringing the matter to be included in MOA. After that, we would be submitting our paper to RBI. Without having license for PPI, we cannot go outside, sir. First let us procure the license and then we will be going outside as an aggregator. However, our revenue from i-Pay is concerned. This particular quarter we have done very, very well. I'll be happy to share with you that total revenue of the i-Pay has been INR 27 crore, out of which I think net revenue of IRCTC has been nearly INR 10.7 crore.
Okay. Thank you, ma'am. Best of luck and congratulations on very strong performance.
Thank you. Thank you very much, Rahulji.
Thank you very much. Our next question is from the line of Akshay Bhor from Citadel. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Thank you for the opportunity again. Just want to understand both employee expenses and other expenses has been lower on a sequential basis from Q4 of last year despite the pickup in the activity. Just want to understand what's behind that.
Earlier in the year, the provision for PRP had been more. Now we have standardized that based on our experience that this kind of provisioning is not required. When we do more provisioning, it is counted in expenses. This time we have reduced that expenses. All the needs of each and every employee has been covered. Excess provisioning doesn't make any sense. We have reduced the provisioning for that. That is why you can see the less expenses.
Got it, ma'am. Ma'am, the run rate for July in terms of internet ticket booking, can you please share that? Because some of, you know, the data shows that railways passenger has come up in the month of July. Just want to understand from your ticket booking numbers, how is the run rate like?
If you ask me, the number up to June, I have answered. July, I think it is nearly, it is little lesser than what we had in June. Because of the rainy season, the percentage goes down.
Got it, ma'am. Got it.
You can be live in.
Last June was 10% lesser.
Oh, it is a little lesser than that.
Okay. 11%-12%, yeah?
Because the ticket booking, as we know, at least are 120 days earlier. For festival booking, we have already started. We can see some changes this month and next month also.
Ma'am, just wanting your longer-term view from your side on this internet penetration of 80%. How much can this realistically grow, you know, over the next, let's say two, three years?
I think, sir, it is going to grow, but at a slower pace, not at the same pace that it has grown in the COVID period. In COVID period, people didn't have any other option. In the offline mode is going to be there. Some percentage is certainly going to be there because at remotest locations, we don't have these internet facilities. If more trains are there, certainly we'll get more because the DFCCIL, Dedicated Freight Corridor is there. Many of the goods trains are going to be diverted on that route. The line capacity will be available with the Indian Railways to run more trains. In that case, if more trains are run by Indian Railways, suddenly we will be a beneficiary in terms of getting more and more booking. Some offline booking is continue to be there.
The growth is going to be there, but at a certain, say 1% each year or 2% more than that. This can happen in this manner.
Got it, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you so much for patiently answering those questions.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our last question is from the line of [Ratan Juneja from CI Value]. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks for the opportunity. I would like to know the volume and value of bus ticketing business this quarter, and how do you see it going forward, ma'am?
Okay. Well, I'll share some figures with you for the bus ticketing. In the year 2021-22, last financial year, our total revenue from the bus booking has been nearly, you can say, INR 4.95 crore. Out of which IRCTC share was nearly INR 35 lakh or so. IRCTC share is in terms of convenience fee and certain commission. Right, sir? We have tied up with the, I think, eight of the state governments. In the first quarter alone, we have been able to earn revenue of INR 4.51 crore and INR 32 lakh is our.
Sure.
Commission plus convenience fee. The quantum and the potential in the bus traffic is more. The only thing is that we have tied up through an agency. While the state governments are now tying up, we are also tying up with the state governments directly also. Some reservations are there, here and there. It looks that potential in this business is going to be good. Our alone convenience fee income can be rise with better marketing, for which we are now going to follow our strategy.
All right.
Now in the first quarter.
Second question is, what is the percentage of Internet Ticketing revenue for the AC class?
Well, in AC you have three, four classes. You have Executive class, Anubhuti jisko bolte hain. It is 0.03%. In the first AC is 0.64%. Second AC is 5.83%. Third AC is 21.76%. Chair car is 5.7%. You can add that to the total now.
All right. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question. I now hand the conference over to Ms. Rajni Hasija, CMD, for closing comments. Please go ahead, ma'am.
Well, as usual, the session has been very interactive. We hope that IRCTC has been able to answer all your queries and doubts. Although I can only tell you this, that this has been the best quarter so far, and my team has done really its best to make up all the losses which we had during the COVID period. Because the entire industry was suffering with that. With this note, I hope very good luck to all of you. I'm wishing you a very happy Independence Day. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, aap manaye aur bade dhoom se manaye. Our AGM is also on, falling on 26th. So whosoever our shareholders are, we urge them to join online. It is going to be through virtual mode.
Let's hope for the good, and wish you all the best in the coming season. Thank you very much.
Thank you very much, ma'am. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of IDBI Capital, that concludes this conference call. Thank you for joining us, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.