IRCTC, a subsidiary of Indian Railways, has launched its trial run of environment-friendly bagasse-based food packaging on 8 select Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains originating from New Delhi to mark the World Environment Day 2018. Passengers in these trains will be served meals on eco-friendly disposable plates (compostable containers) instead of the polymer plates as part of the Railways’ drive to go green, a Ministry of Railways statement said.

Bagasse, the fibrous remains left after extracting sugarcane juice, is being used to make disposable cutlery and containers in which meals will be served. Provision will be made to collect the used packaging which will then be processed for disposal through composting to ensure environmental sustainability.
"IRCTC with this new initiative reaffirms its commitment to a cleaner and greener India and has taken a small step in this direction to achieve the same," the statement said. 
 
After the initial trials, the Indian Railways plans to introduce bagasse-based packaging on a permanent basis as a viable alternative to non bio-degradable material being currently used on all Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duranto trains. IRCTC serves food in these trains. When it comes to food, IRCTC is also reportedly planning to go for quality over quantity. According to an Economic Times report, it is likely to start this with premium trains such as the Rajdhanis and the Shatabdis. In order to improve the quality of foods, IRCTC is planning to bring down the quantity of foods and it will instead focus on quality. Due to huge quantity of foods it was serving to the passengers at a low cost, it was incurring huge losses. In recent months, the Indian Railways has taken many steps, including the launch of IRCTC food ordering facility through IRCTC app, to offer passengers better eating experience.