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Showing posts with label railneer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label railneer. Show all posts

Tuesday, 24 April 2018

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Tuesday, 14 June 2016

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Friday, 8 January 2016

06:46

Sale of only Rail Neer packaged drinking water at stations and on trains.

Sale of only Rail Neer packaged drinking water at stations and on trains. 

Why permit sale of only RailNeer at stations, HC to Railways

If you can allow Outside Food, why not Water? Mumbai High Court asks Railways

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court today sought to know from Indian Railways why sale of only one brand of mineral water is permitted at railway stations where different brands and varieties of food are available and directed the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation to reply to a public interest litigation challenging the sale of only Rail Neer packaged drinking water at stations and on trains.

A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice M S Sonak heard the PIL filed by Lopesh Vora, a regular commuter, urging direction to the Railways and its subsidiary, IRCTC, to provide packaged drinking water of other brands also. Justice N H Patil was hearing a public interest litigation by commuter Lopesh Vora challenging a circular issued by railway authorities last year directing contractors and caterers having stalls on platforms and railway stations to stock and sell only ‘Rail Neer’ packaged drinking water supplied by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

Vora in his petition claimed that a commuter should have the right to choose which brand water he or she wants to buy and consume. Vora’s advocates Rui Rodrigues and Abhishek Tripathi argued that it is “a consumer’s right of choice to drinking water” under Article 21 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution. They pointed out that there is an issue of quantity as well as quality. They explained that only 1 litre bottles are being sold instead of 500 ml. Also, tests done by an independent laboratory in Gujarat:showed the water is “sub-standard ” and did not conform to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India norms.

IRCTC’s advocate Usha Srivastava said the decision to keep only keep one brand of packaged water was because Rail Neer ” was not being lifted ” and it resulted in a huge loss. She said currently it is available in four zones having bottling plants and not at all places. ” We are not preventing people from carrying their own water as done on planes,” she added.

The bench said there can be no compromise on quality and questioned that when outside food and even e-catering is permitted on trains, “why not drinking water.” The IRCTC is directed to file a reply to the PIL along with quality check reports at the next hearing after a month. It is also directed to consider selling 500 ml bottles.

“Rail Neer is available only in one litre bottles. While other brands like Bisleri have 500 ml bottles also. Why should one compulsorily buy a one litre bottle? Moreover one does not know if the Rail Neer water is of good quality,” the petition said.

“If food of different brands and varieties are available at railway stations then why not water? You (railways) should allow other brands. If the railways’ contention is that IRCTC is facing loss then one bottle of Rail Neer can be given complimentary with each ticket booked then people will be encouraged to buy it,” the court said.

The high court has directed railways authorities and IRCTC to consider the contentions raised in the PIL and file their reply in four weeks.

Earlier another bench of the high court had dismissed a petition filed by the Indian Railway Caterer’s Association challenging the circular.

This is absolutely right?? Why only Rail Neer.. There are locallites who create duplicate of the Rail Neer bottles & sell it. They also fill the bottles thrown by commuters & resell it. -Kiran P., Rail Passenger
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Tuesday, 20 October 2015

19:54

Rail Neer contractor made Rs.500 Crore worth business empire in 10 years


Rail Neer contractor made Rs.500 Crore worth business empire in 10 years

New Delhi: A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation exposed a major scam in the supply of packaged drinking water within the Railways, it has now emerged that the ‘Rail Neer’ contractor had  made a business empire worth Rs 500 crore in just over a decade.

As per a report, Shyam Bihari Agrawal, booked by CBI following its raid in connection with the ‘Rail Neer’ scandal, virtually controlled the railway catering services. Agarwal is the owner of the chain of Comesum restaurants at railway stations across India. He reportedly holds about 70% of pantry car business in Indian Railways through his parent company RK Associates & Hoteliers and several other front companies.

Agrawal, who hails from Chhattisgarh, gets almost all the contracts in the premium trains, including Rajdhani and Shatabdi express besides other important trains, the report said qouting the CBI sources.

Agrawal made the fortune after getting small catering contracts in railways with the help of some senior politicians and bureaucrats. He is said to be close to two former railway ministers and managed to get big contracts for catering.

Four of Agarwal’s several companies have been named by CBI in its FIR.

“Whenever there is a tender in railways for catering, he opens a new company with different set of Directors. Through his contacts, he gets the contract,” said an official was quoted as saying.

The agency had on Friday raided 13 places in Delhi and Noida, and registered a case against two senior officials of Northern Railway and seven private companies in connection with the alleged scam. The case has been lodged against former chief commercial managers (PS and Catering) of Northern Railway MS Chalia and Sandeep Silas.

The companies booked by CBI are RK Associates Pvt Ltd, Satyam Caterers Pvt Ltd, Ambuj Hotel and Real Estate, PK Associates Pvt Ltd, Sunsine Pvt Ltd, Brandavan Food Product and Food World under Prevention of Corruption Act.

CBI also recovered Rs 27 crore from the residence of Shyam Bihari Agrawal, his sons Abhishek Agrawal and Rahul Agarwal, who own RK Associates and Brandavan Food Product World.

As per CBI, the railway officials had favored these private firms by allowing other packaged drinking water other than the mandatory Rail Neer in premium trains, including Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express, and were making big gains.
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19:49

CBI busts Rail Neer Scam in Railways; seizes Rs.27 Crore from Suppliers

CBI busts Rail Neer Scam in Railways; seizes Rs.27 Crore from Suppliers

New Delhi: The CBI on Saturday recovered Rs 27 Crore in cash during searches at 13 locations against two former Northern Railways officials and seven private firms in connection with alleged corruption in supply of packaged drinking water other than mandatory ‘Rail Neer’ in premium trains.

CBI sources said a case has been registered against the then Chief Commercial Managers (PS and Catering) of Northern Railways M S Chalia and Sandeep Silas. The Ministry of Railways announced earlier that two officials whose homes were raided by the CBI stand suspended.


CBI also recovered fake currency of Rs 4 lakh among Rs 27 crore recovered from Railway caterers during its searches.

Sources said, the agency stumbled upon unaccounted cash which was so huge that it took 15 hours of counting the currency with the help of three counting machines and five officials of the agency.

The agency has also booked private companies RK Associates Pvt Ltd, Satyam Caterers Pvt Ltd, Ambuj Hotel and Real Estate, PK Associates Pvt Ltd, Sunsine Pvt Ltd, Brandavan Food Product and Food World under Prevention of Corruption Act provisions. Silas has served as the private secretary of a former Union Minister.

They said cash recovery of Rs 20 crore was made from the residence of Shyam Bihari Agrawal, his sons Abhishek Agrawal and Rahul Agarwal who own RK Associates and Brandavan Food Product.

irctc railneer racket cbiAgrawal, who hails from Durg in Chhattisgarh, started as a small time caterer somewhere in 2004 and slowly increased the business taking the turnover of his company to around Rs 500 crore catering in almost all the Shatabdi and Rajdhani trains, the sources said.

They said cash of Rs 1 crore was recovered from the office of his firms while Rs 52 lakh was recovered from the residence of his Chief Executive Officer.

The sources said CBI may slap charges of fake currency on Agrawal.

They said Agrawal, who was allegedly carrying on with fraud of selling cheap water in place of Rail Neer since 2012 in the trains, had purchased lot of land in the national capital region and owns luxury hotels in Noida, Ghaziabad, Navi Mumbai, Raipur.

They said he used his connections with the Railway officials to allegedly grab lucrative contracts of restaurants on Railway premises.

The two former Chief Commercial Managers Northern Railways (Catering division) were suspended in the wee hours of Saturday morning after CBI registered a case against them for allegedly showing favour to private firms which provided cheap packaged drinking water (PDW) to premium trains instead of the mandatory “Rail Neer”. The agency on October 16 carried out searches at 13 locations in NCR which included premises of two Chief Commercial Managers of Railways and private companies which included the two firms run by Agrawal.

It is alleged that the accused Railway officials had shown favour to private firms in supply of cheap packaged drinking water (PDW) other than mandatory ‘Rail Neer’ in premium trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express.

The officers identified as Sandeep Silas and MS Chalia, posted as Chief Project Manager (FOIS) and Chief Claims officer, respectively, now might be facing arrest if the probe agency deems it necessary to question them. Silas has served as the private secretary to three former Union ministers including Oscar Fernandes, Mallikarjun Kharge and Ambika Soni.

CBI spokesperson Devpreet Singh said it was further alleged that the Railway Board had prescribed that IRCTC shall provide Rail Neer at a rate of Rs 10.50 (approx) per bottle to the private caterers and the private caterers will be paid Rs 15 (approx) per bottle for supplying the same to passengers in premium trains.

According to sources the probe into their role has further widened after CBI recovered incriminating documents from the premises of private firms which were allegedly shown favour by the two officials. According to a CBI source, the probe agency is not only looking into the supply of bottled water, but also into restaurants located at railway stations that belonged to the catering firms which were in the good books of the officials. The agency is also looking into the catering products and food served in premium trains including Shatabdi and Rajdhani express. However, the private suppliers in order to obtain undue gain, were allegedly supplying cheap packaged water, other than “Rail Neer”, available in the market at a rate of Rs 5.70 to Rs 7 (approx) per bottle, thereby causing gain to themselves and loss to the exchequer, the official said.

Searches are being conducted today at 13 places in Delhi and Noida which led to recovery of cash amount of more than Rs 20 crore (approx) and a large number of incriminating documents — Devpreet Singh, Spokesperson, CBI
“The accused public servants allegedly did not take any action against the private parties providing catering services in the premium trains despite repeated requests of IRCTC for non-picking of allotted quota of ‘Rail Neer’ by Private Caterers,” the spokesperson said.

CBI said directions of Railway Board to ensure supply of “Rail Neer” in premium trains were also ignored by the officials thereby causing undue pecuniary advantage to the private parties and corresponding loss to IRCTC.

“The accused public servants allegedly did not take any action against the private parties providing catering services in the premium trains despite repeated requests of IRCTC for non-picking of allotted quota of “Rail Neer” by private caterers and directions of Railway Board to ensure supply of “Rail Neer” PDW in premium trains, thereby causing undue pecuniary advantage to the private parties and corresponding loss to IRCTC,” said Devpreet Singh, CBI spokesperson.

On Friday the probe agency conducted searches on premises of at least seven private firms based in Delhi and recovered Rs20 crores in cash. CBI officials told that the amount that has been recovered has increased to a whopping Rs28 crores. “The money was stuffed in 27 large bags and hidden in various locations raided by the agency,” said a CBI official.

The companies booked by CBI are RK Associates Pvt Ltd, Satyam Caterers Pvt Ltd, Ambuj Hotel and Real Estate, PK Associates Pvt Ltd, Sunsine Pvt Ltd, Brandavan Food Product and Food World, under Prevention of Corruption Act.

“A large number of incriminating documents have also been recovered,” said the CBI spokesperson.

Officials told that the most of the money was recovered from the residence of Shyam Bihari Agrawal, his sons Abhishek Agrawal and Rahul Agarwal, who own RK Associates and Brandavan Food Product World.

“Mr Agarwal was a small-time businessman in Chhattisgarh nearly two decades ago. Examination of accounts of one his firms shows that he has a turnover of more than Rs500 crore,” said a CBI official privy to the investigation. According to the official, the close relations Agarwal shared with senior officials of the railways had helped him to accumulate vast sums of money.

According to officials, the Railway Board had prescribed that IRCTC shall provide “Rail Neer” at a rate of rupees 10.50 per bottle to the private caterers who in return would be paid rupees 15 per bottle for supplying the same to the passengers in premium trains . The private caterers however in order to obtain undue gain were allegedly supplying cheap PDW brands, instead of “Rail Neer”, which were available in the market at a rate Rs5.70 to Rs7 per bottle. The agency said the total amount of loss to the exchequer is yet to be calculated
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Thursday, 9 July 2015

07:19

IRCTC plans to set up 5000 Water Vending Machines across 1200 Stations

IRCTC plans to set up 5000 Water Vending Machines across 1200 Stations

Imagine getting chilled, potable water — that complies with WHO standards — for ₹5 a litre, ₹3 for half a litre and ₹1-2 per container or glasses. This is exactly what will happen at 1,200 railway stations across the country soon

New Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) plans to set up 5,000 water vending machines across 1,200 railway stations. This will create business opportunities for companies in the water vending space such as Ion Exchange, Eureka Forbes, and Kent RO.

Other vendors include SR Paryavaran, Hitech Sweet Water, Virindavan Enterprise, Fontus Water, Acer Engineers, Meghdoot Media, Raj Water, Rite Water Solutions, Aquatech RO, Sai Balaji Water, Smaat India and Jain Sabkuchh Food.

IRCTC’s Chairman and Managing Director AK Manocha recently told that 21 vendors have been empanelled who can provide potable, chilled water through such vending machines, and there will be two vending machines per platform.

The machines will provide water to train passengers at ₹1-5 based on the quantity. Such projects are already being implemented on a pilot basis at Bengaluru and Chennai railway stations. The Bengaluru station has a capacity to serve 200 litres per hour.

Many of the projects are being taken up as CSR activities by the corporates. For the vending machines that can be used on RO technology, usually 65-70 per cent water is wasted, for which IRCTC made a parameter that not more than 40 per cent of water should be wasted.

The outlet water will be recycled for use in toilets at stations, said Manocha. Those who run the vending machines will pay certain lease rentals, which will be shared between IRCTC and the Railways.

Cost of input water and electricity will be borne by the vendor setting up the unit. The project is expected create employment as people will be manning the vending machines. Manocha had done a pilot of a similar project about 15 years ago in the Delhi division.

The public sector unit’s bottled water business — which rolls out Rail Neer branded water — has a capacity to produce 14 crore one-litre bottles of water a year, of which 10 crore were produced last year.

Rail Neer bottles account for one-fifth of the bottled water sold in trains. IRCTC earned almost ₹100 crore from Rail Neer sales in 2014-15, registering 10 per cent growth over the previous year.
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