Patna: Trains at a halt at the Patna Junction Railway Station on Day 2 of the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed by the Narendra Modi government over the coronavirus pandemic; on March 26, 2020. (Photo: IANS)IANS

IRCTC rallied over 5%, adding nearly a ₹1,000 crore to the market value, on Monday (May 11).
Prabhudas Lilladher, a brokerage firm maintained its ‘Buy’ rating on IRCTC, with a target price of ₹1,428 as of April 27.

India’s top online booking portal IRCTC rallied over 5%, adding nearly a ₹1,000 crore to the market value, on Monday (May 11), after Indian Railways decided to start taking bookings for passenger trains after a brief hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rail ministry said the online booking for the trains will start at 4 pm today(May 11) on the IRCTC website. “The national transporter is planning to gradually restart special AC passenger train operations from Tuesday with 15 trains, including their return journey, with limited stops,” said a statement from The Railway Ministry’s executive director of Media, Rajesh Dutt Bajpai.

IRCTC share price has climbed over 36% so far since March 31. While the earnings estimates for IRCTC have been cut due to the prolonged shutdown, the target price still has room to grow the investor wealth. Prabhudas Lilladher, a brokerage firm maintained its ‘Buy’ rating on IRCTC, with a target price of ₹1,428 as of April 27. All thanks to four new Rail Neer plants which will be commissioned in 2020-21 and are expected to contribute a huge increase in its revenue.

IRCTC added nearly ₹1\,000 crore to its market value as Indian Railways starts taking bookings