Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is set to fulfil 100 per cent demand of bottled water of the Indian Railways with nine new water bottling plants, informed a senior official on August 29. The new pants will be constructed in Nagpur, Sankrail (Howrah), Jagirod (Guwahati), Jabalpur, Bhusawal, Una, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Bhuvner, he added. IRCTC'S bottled water is named as Rail Neer.

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IRCTC'S bottled water deficit

Daily demands of water in Railways have reached a whopping amount of 19 lakh litres across the country while IRCTC is able to provide only 11 lakh litres bottled water in 10 plants. This deficit is leading to the sale of other brands of drinking water on trains. With the new plants, demands are likely to be met. The National transporter's catering service, IRCTC is constantly trying to take measures to suffice the passengers. With the advent of feedbacks on trains, quality and quantity of service have become more efficient. In April 2019, 7 new Rail Neer plants were set up in Hapur (Uttar Pradesh), Sanand (Gujarat) and Mandideep (Madhya Pradesh), quoted Group General Manager of IRCTC, Siyaram said. 

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Where will the new plants be set?

The Group's General manager informed that the new plants will be set in Nagpur, Sankrail (Howrah), Jagirod (Guwahati), Jabalpur, Bhusawal, Una, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Bhuvner which will produce about 9 lakh litres of bottled water each day.

"The need for nine lakh litres of bottled water is supplied from the market. But six new plants at Nagpur, Sankrail (Howrah), Jagirod (Guwahati), Jabalpur, Bhusawal and Una are in an advanced stage of construction, which will start in March 2020. After this, Rail Neer plant is proposed to be set up at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and Bhuvner," he informed.

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Total bottled water production after new plants

The plants will altogether produce about 20 lakh litres of bottled water on a daily basis. The massive production is likely to end the need for depending on other brands to meet the passenger's demands. Water sales through vending machines have also increased manifold, added the General Manager. 

"After this, IRCTC itself will start meeting 100 per cent bottled water demand for Rail Neer. However, in the meantime, the demand of passengers for taking water from the water vending machine has increased and four lakh litres of water is being supplied daily through the water vending machine," Siyaram said.

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(With inputs from ANI)