Delhi govt seeks to partner online groceries for ration delivery

The Delhi government is seeking to partner with private companies including JioMart, BigBasket and Grofers for the home delivery of rations to 1.7 million households in the city.

The government of the National Capital Territory has held online meetings with some of the companies and written letters to the others, to check if they were willing to partner in the Mukhyamantri Ghar Ghar Ration Yojana, two people familiar with the matter said.

As per the plans, the state would provide subsidised and packaged wheat flour, rice and sugar and the ecommerce companies would use their supply chain to deliver those to the households under the public distribution system.

A senior executive of a top online grocer said Delhi officials held a videoconference last month that was attended by representatives from the online grocery platforms and a couple of large online-focused logistics firms.

“That meeting was just to brief us on what their requirements were,” said the executive. “Their criteria was companies should be able to handle end-of-end logistics of the programme as they are trying to modernise the PDS.”

JioMart, BigBasket and Grofers did not respond to emails seeking comment till press time Wednesday.

The programme could also provide an opportunity to online grocery sellers to convert many of those households into their customers.

Late last month, the Aam Aadmi Party government cleared a proposal to home deliver the monthly rations, which are currently supplied through a network of government-run PDS outlets.

While announcing the development, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the scheme would be rolled out in the next six-seven months, after completing the tendering and other processes.

If a deal happens, Delhi will be the latest among states to work with private companies to modernise the decades-old PDS. In 2015, Rajasthan tied up with the Future Group to manage the state’s PDS and ration shops. Kishore Biyani’s company was involved in giving a facelift to thousands of ration shops and rebranded them as Annapurna Bhandar.