The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) plans to open pantries and kitchens to cater to low-end industrial workers and high-end software professionals in Chennai soon as part of its general expansion plans.
IRCTC officials are holding negotiations with leading IT firms on OMR like Cognizant, TCS and STPI for opening kitchens or pantry units to serve cooked vegetarian and non-vegetarian food there. Cognizant sought to see IRCTC kitchen before outsourcing catering work, while STPI has sent papers to New Delhi for allotting pantry space, senior IRCTC officials told DC referring to Ernakulam Info Park.
IRCTC is holding negotiations with a few other firms to secure catering contracts. Most companies were willing to give pantry space, while a few were willing to allow IRCTC to open kitchens as well. Packed food would be supplied in small packages in the pantry space or preheated food carried in large containers would be served there, officials said.
On the low-end front, IRCTC plans small eateries in industrial areas such as Guindy and Ambattur and hopes to expand in Chennai based on requirement.
Pricing would be subsidised and differential, IRCTC said and reasoned that there would be good patronage for small eateries, as hygienic food would be sold at affordable rates to industrial workers, who otherwise turn to unhygienic roadside eateries.
Food supplied to IT professionals on commercial scale would be priced higher and yet would cost less than high-end restaurants as the corporation procures quality raw materials on large scale at low rates from empanelled suppliers.
Up to seven places have been identified to establish kitchen factories. IRCTC plans to supply breakfast, lunch as well as dinner depending on the requirement, officials added noting that they were planning up to 5,000 meals (for lunch) at the outset.