Zomato Boards The IRCTC Train: Foodtech Giant To Pilot Meal Delivery On The Go

Foodtech major Zomato has inked a pact with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for supply and delivery of pre-ordered meals on a pilot basis.

At the outset, the initiative will be piloted as a proof of concept (PoC) and will enable rail passengers to book meals through IRCTC’s e-catering portal. Under the first phase, the facility will initially be available at five railway stations namely New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi.

“…  IRCTC has tied up with M/s. Zomato Limited for supply and delivery of preordered meals through IRCTC’s E-catering portal as a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the first phase at five Railway stations i.e. New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow and Varanasi,” said IRCTC in a regulatory filing with the BSE.

The new offering will enable Zomato to expand its offerings and tap into the burgeoning railway passengers in the country.

On the other hand, the move will allow IRCTC to expand the range of food options for passengers.

A Booster Shot For Zomato 

As per Statista, the annual railway passenger traffic in the country hovered around the 352 Cr mark in FY22. This offers a very lucrative opportunity for Zomato, even if a fraction of the total travellers pre-order meals on the foodtech platform.

The new service comes at a time when the foodtech major has been rapidly launching new offerings while scaling up efforts to shore up profitability. Earlier this month, the Deepinder Goyal-led startup ventured into the logistics space by launching a quick delivery service for merchants.

Recently, the foodtech giant also announced the timeline for its upcoming food and live entertainment festival Zomaland, which will commence on November 4 and will be spread across eight cities, including Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, among others.

In Q1 FY24, Zomato reported its maiden profitable quarter. It posted a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 2 Cr, against a net loss of INR 186 Cr in Q1 FY23. Meanwhile, revenues from operations jumped to INR 2,416 Cr in the quarter ended June 2023 compared to INR 1,413.9 Cr in Q1 FY23.

The foodtech major recently also shut many of its overseas subsidiaries as it has ramped up focus its energies back on scaling up the Indian business. Alongside, it has introduced artificial intelligence (AI) and imposed a platform fee of INR 2 to INR 3 platform fee to shore up its topline.

Even as a funding crunch bites into the Indian startup ecosystem, the spell of positive news for Zomato has triggered a bull run for the company’s stock. The foodtech major’s shares are trading nearly 92% higher on a year-to-date (YTD) basis, while its current market capitalisation stands at INR 98,004 Cr ($11.7 Bn).

On Tuesday (October 17), Zomato recorded another 52-week high of INR 114.10 during intraday trading on the BSE. It closed the day 2.15% higher at INR 113.90 on the BSE. 

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