Ranchi: Comesum Food Plaza, which runs outlets in Howrah, Mughalsarai and New Delhi's Nizamuddin railway stations, will replace the Birsa Munda Food Plaza on platform 1 here.
Run by RK Associates, a renowned name in the field of hotel industry, the outlet is likely to become operational by the end of this month.
Project manager Nand Kishore Pant said the company had signed an agreement with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) on August 20 after qualifying in the tendering process.
"The contract of Jamuna Associates, which operated the Birsa Munda Food Plaza, was terminated on August 19. After we signed the agreement, the store was handed over to us. We are now designing it properly," Pant said, adding that he was personally supervising the renovation work of the two-storey air-conditioned food plaza.
"Interior decorations are in the final stages. Once complete, the plaza will be opened. A team of around 50 employees will run the plaza," he said. The project manager, however, could not give a deadline when the outlet would start functioning.
The firm has also put up a flex on the station premises with details of the food items that would be available along with the prices.
Sandeep Tomar, another official of the company said, "Indian, Chinese and south Indian food items will be served at very reasonable prices."
IRCTC general manager Debashish Chandra, however, said the restaurant would become operational by September-end. "The company will run the food plaza for nine years. They will have to pay an annual rent to IRCTC for using the space," he added.
With no food outlets at the station, passengers were facing a lot of hardships. "After the Birsa Munda Food Plaza was closed in August, passengers and people accompanying them do not have a place to have a proper meal," said Khusboo Singh, a homemaker of Lake Road in the city.
Comesum, an IRCTC approved chain of food junctions, started as a restaurant in Pune in 2002. It was launched by Rahul Agrawal, Rajeev Mittal and Abhishek Agrawal, who have been in catering business for many years. The firm, which operates 34 multi-cuisine restaurants in the country, entered into a pact with IRCTC a few years later to provide food to passengers at rail premises.
