Rail travellers will soon have to pay more for the packaged drinking water, Rail Neer, in trains and platforms, as the Railways ministry has approved the proposal to hike the price of packaged water by Rs 3 per litre.

It means, Rail Neer, which currently costs Rs 12 a litre, will soon cost Rs 15 per one litre bottle. The price of half-litre bottle will be Rs 10, Rs 2 more than its current price of Rs 8.

Confirming the price hikes, a senior official from the railways ministry said, "The IRCTC, which manufactures and supplies the packaged drinking water at railway premises, had sought the ministry's approval for revising the rate of Rail Neer and we have given the approval for the same."

However, railway PSU IRCTC has yet to finalize a date for implementation of the new prices for packaged drinking water.

IRCTC packs Rail Neer at three sites, viz. Nangloi in Delhi, Danapur in Bihar and Palur near Chennai. It packs nearly 3.80 lakh bottles of one litre capacity per day.

The railways ministry has also given clearance to the proposal to increase the prices of the other brands of drinking water bottles that are permitted for sale on trains.