Konkan Railway Corporation Limited

Abstract

Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRC) was set up as a Public Sector company under the Ministry of Railways in July 1990 to bridge the 738 km “Konkan Gap” by providing a railway connection between Roha (150 kms South of Mumbai) and Thokur (about 22 kms North of Mangalore). KRC completed the project at a cost of Rs. 3375 crore and commenced operations since January 26, 1998, with a cash expense in excess of Rs. One crore per day. Given that KRC was assured of daily earnings of Rs. 25 lakhs by way of passenger traffic, they needed about 10 KRC to make surpluses to pay back the debt burden of Rs. 2575 crores. At the end of 9 months of operation, only 94 rakes had moved over the KRC segment. Earlier projections of business growth had not materialized. In this context KRC had to profile the target market segments and design an overall marketing offer to serve its chosen customers. A structure for their marketing organization had to be put in place in order to serve and sustain their business activities.