India, March 10 -- Summer's here, but Rail Neer won't be available at many railway stations until July. The decision to curtail the supply of Rail Neer - bottled water sold by the Indian Railways - is due to a production shortage at the railways' Ambernath plant, its only plant in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

As a result, Rail Neer will not be sold at stations from Borivali to Surat on the Western Railway, and Thane to Karjat on the Central Railway. According to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which runs the Ambernath plant, the curbs will remain in force from March 10 to June 30.

Railway sources said catering stalls at stations have been informed of the shortage. As a stopgap measure, the railways ...