IRCTC shares surge to new record high, crosses 1 lakh crore in market cap

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) shares jumped 6.90% on Tuesday to reach Rs 6282.90. So far, the railway corporation shares have surged by 31.64% from their last closing low of Rs 4,772.85 on October 11, 2021. The corporation’s market capitalisation (m-cap) has also crossed Rs 1 lakh crore mark in the equity market.

The IRCTC stock has hit a new high on Tuesday as it reached Rs 6,396.30. The stock price has surged 386.67% from its 52-week low of Rs 1,291 hit on November 4, 2020. The share price has gone up by 712% since it was first listed in October 2019. The IRCTC share price has surged 63.69% in the past month against a 5.33% rise in Sensex.

IRCTC share price jumps again

Since its initial listing, IRCTC has grown to become one of investors’ favourite stocks as it holds a monopoly over rail ticket booking services. It became one of the biggest stocks to surge fuelled by the latest bull run of the stock market. The rise in IRCTC stock valuation also comes from its high demand after it announced the start of special tourist trains for the festive season.

Apart from this, investors are also keenly looking at the company’s future development plan as it proposed plans to split the stock. IRCTC had earlier fixed October 29, 2021, as the date of the proposed 5:1 stock split. With this, the company will see each of its equity shares of the face value of Rs 10 get divided into five equity shares of the face value of Rs 2 each. This will make the IRCTC stocks more affordable for investors while increasing liquidity.

IRCTC resumes catering services

Earlier in August, the IRCTC announced the resumption of catering services on trains. The catering services for the commuters were halted by the Indian Railway Ministry since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.  More than 500 eateries are currently listed on the IRCTC eCatering website, including Domino's, Comesum, Zoop, Railrestro, Relfood, and Garg Rajdhani online food Yatri's, and Rail Recipe. IRCTC also released a new E-catering app, which is available on Google Play and iTunes. The services of the corporation are now getting back to full swing as all major train services have now resumed normal functioning post the second wave of the pandemic.

Image: PTI