IRCTC operates as one of the most transacted websites in the Asia Pacific region. (File)

The Rs 645-crore initial public offering (IPO) of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was subscribed 76 per cent on Monday. According to data available on the official website of National Stock Exchange (NSE), the IPO received strong buying interest as it had already received bids for 1.52 crore shares out of the total 2.02 crore shares on offer by 4:30 pm.

The public offer opened for subscription on Monday and will close on October 3.

IRCTC has set the price band for its initial public offering (IPO) at Rs 315-320 per share. The Rs 645-crore IPO is the largest of all the railway offerings so far.

IRCTC had filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for an IPO in August. It is the only entity authorised by the Indian Railways to provide catering services to railways, online railway tickets and packaged drinking water at railway stations and trains in India.

The central public sector enterprise has also diversified into other business segments like e-catering, executive lounges, and budget hotels.

IRCTC operates as one of the most transacted websites in the Asia Pacific region with transaction volume averaging at 25 million per month and 7.2 million logins a day. Over 1.4 million passengers travel on a daily basis of which 71.42 per cent book their tickets online.