Business
Cloud reduces turnaround time essential for dynamic business like ours: Zomato CTO

As the quick-commerce growth story takes shape in India, Zomato, which just acquired Blinkit for about $568 million, feels that quick commerce is a natural extension of its food delivery business.
India’s quick commerce market is all set to witness 15 times growth by 2025, reaching a market size of nearly $5.5 billion, according to reports.
The total addressable market for quick commerce in India stands at $45 billion, and urban areas are driving this market on the back of mid-high-income households.
Gunjan Patidar, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Zomato, told IANS that when it comes to online ordering, faster turnaround time leads to a better customer experience and improves customer retention and here, a flexible and scalable Cloud reduces the overall turnaround time, which is essential for a dynamic business like theirs.
Here are the excerpts from the interview:
Q: There has been a mixed reaction to Zomato’s newly announced 10-minute delivery model. What is the strategic thinking behind this? Also, tell us more about the underlying technology that will make this possible.
A: We have witnessed that a faster turnaround time leads to a better customer experience and improves customer retention. It’s simple, you order food when you’re hungry, so it makes much more sense to get it as quickly as possible.
The underlying technology that enables us to deliver within 10-minutes is more or less what we already do in online ordering. The real game-changer is the process at the back. Time optimisation happens at our finishing stations through both technology and operational speed. Please note that no time optimisation occurs on the road, and the delivery partners aren’t informed of whether it is a 10-minute or 30-minute delivery.
Further, no incentive is provided for timely deliveries, and neither are the delivery partners penalised for late deliveries.
Q: The recent ‘pure tech’ IPOs have failed to impress public market investors. Even globally, high growth US tech stocks are stumbling (e.g. DoorDash). What are the secular tailwinds, key upcoming business initiatives etc. which should keep us upbeat about Zomato’s growth prospects?
A: As an organisation, we focus more on long-term initiatives than worrying about what’s the current sentiment. Even during the most critical of times, more than half of our engineers are working on projects that will change the course of Zomato in upcoming years. Coming to the current situation, we feel it’s more like a global phenomenon rather than something particular to Zomato or other tech companies. It’s a market sentiment and part of a regular business cycle. It’s not the first time and won’t be the last. Every time this happens, the market takes some time to correct itself, and things eventually fall back in place.
Our long-term initiatives are customer-centric, wherein we are currently focusing on Hyperpure growth, and deeper penetration in the cities we already operate in, to name some.
Q: How are you managing to attract and retain top talent?
A: While hiring and retaining the best engineers is still challenging, Zomato has always found the right pool. One of the reasons why we’re able to do this is because we focus more on vision than skills. While skills are essential, what distinguishes great engineers from the good is how aligned they are with the organisation’s vision. And it’s something that we gauge when we are hiring for our engineering and product teams. Our idea is to get onboard the candidates who feel connected with Zomato’s mission and vision. These people are excited to change the food industry for the better, want to play a pivotal role in where we are heading, and are keen to build something that will make people’s lives easier and better.
We also highly emphasise on-the-job learning wherein they can always learn new skills that not only help in doing the current job better but also prepare them for the future. While these things help get the right kinds of people, the culture makes people stay. Getting to work on various projects at once (be it dining or food delivery or Hyperpure) or working in an open environment empowers people in many ways. For Zomans, it’s more about qualitative growth than quantitative one.
Q: How are you using AI/ML, data analytics etc. to serve the customer better?
A: Food delivery is a high-frequency business wherein we are constantly working with multi-layered problems, for example, predicting food preparation time or estimated time of arrival. Another is balancing the demand and supply of delivery partners, especially during monsoons or festivals. Since the supply of delivery partners can be unpredictable, it becomes one of the crucial problems for our data science team. Besides these, we use machine learning to personalise our customer experiences to improve their overall experience.
For example, predicting what customers may like based on their order history or which restaurants we should recommend on the homepage or how items can be prioritised on the search page is done via data science teams.
Q: Tell us about your journey on the cloud? What has cloud technology allowed you to do that you couldn’t do before?
A: We have been using cloud technology for a long time. We started this in 2014 when we first hosted our data on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It reduces the overall turnaround time, which is essential for a dynamic business like ours.
For instance, traffic may be very different at one hour of the day from the other or during special occasions like New Year’s Eve or monsoon. All these patterns are significantly different from each other, and having a cloud enables us to be flexible and optimize basis the need. It also helps in saving a tremendous cost as we don’t have to use the peak capacity every time. We can reduce it during nighttime when there are fewer orders and scale up when the demand is high.
Q: What are the qualities that make you stay ahead of the curve as a CTO?
A: One of the founding principles is to stay connected to the technical landscape, say what the different kinds of tools and technologies teams use across departments. Then, one is being aware of the pain points and arranging or offering solutions to the team faster. One should also stay ahead of the current ecosystem. One should be mindful of conversations in the market, how work cultures are evolving, what tools are being used that enhance efficiency, and what new tech innovations are happening across the globe.
You also must be on top of the organisation’s pulse at any time, what different teams are working upon, the kind of developments they have made in the last few months and the upcoming projects. We keep doing regular catch-ups or organising group events like team lunches, showcases, and off-sites to build better team morale, management and coordination.
National
BJP wants to grab land in every UP district, alleges Akhilesh Yadav

Lucknow, June 28: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, alleging that it was trying to usurp land in every district of the state.
Addressing a press conference, Yadav said the BJP was misusing bulldozers and government machinery, with the active support of party workers and the local administration, to forcibly acquire land.
He particularly pointed to Gorakhpur, the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, claiming irregularities in land registration there.
“The people of Gorakhpur should ask in whose name the maximum number of registries have been done,” Yadav said.
“If the truth about Gorakhpur comes out, the government will have to build a custody corridor there instead of passing on any inheritance. Compensation for land and houses is not being given fairly. The administration is pressuring locals into signing consent papers, using the police to instill fear, just so they don’t have to pay proper compensation,” Akhilesh Yadav alleged.
Accusing the government of cheating locals, he added, “People lost land in Ayodhya, came close to losing it in Banaras, and now Gorakhpur is next. It’s not just Gorakhpur’s land that’s being targeted — this mindset was also visible in Lucknow. Even their own advisor had to resign. I don’t know who he was colluding with — those he aligned with have now fled the country.”
Yadav also took aim at the RSS, criticising its demand to remove the words ‘Socialist’ and ‘Secular’ from the Preamble of the Constitution.
“Those who oppose the reservation don’t say it openly. Instead, they target the concepts of secularism and socialism. Their opposition to reservation is masked in these attacks,” he said.
Yadav accused the BJP and its ideological allies of trying to polarise voters. “They want to get votes by spreading hatred,” he alleged.
National
Need to educate youth so that Emergency is not repeated: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta

New Delhi, June 28: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Saturday recalled the murder of the Constitution during the Emergency imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975, highlighting the need for reminding youth about the dark chapter of democracy.
“Just as we stage Ramlila every year to tell youngsters that they should not become like demon king Ravana, this annual commemoration of the Emergency is needed to prevent the return of the dark chapter in future,” she said at a mock parliament organised by Mahila Morcha of Delhi BJP.
Highlighting the Emergency-related changes made in the Constitution, forced sterilisation, restriction on media and films, she said, “The Congress has only worked to retain power over the past 70 years. Even in the Shah Bano case, the then Congress government brought in a law to appease a community at the cost of the exploitation of women.”
She described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “Guardian” of the nation, showcasing his vision to start women-friendly schemes, free cooking gas, toilets, tap water, nutrition scheme for women and the quashing of ‘Triple Talak’.
“It started with Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao and today it is Beti Badhao,” she said, underscoring the encouragement for women in the BJP to take up leadership roles.
“Today, when the country is giving a big role to women in decision-making and governance, we will also need to raise our ability to respond to the situation,” Rekha Gupta said, highlighting that a common worker of the BJP like her could become a Chief Minister.
“Who other than Sonia Gandhi is a prominent woman politician in the Congress?” she asked, urging women workers of the BJP to ensure that they play a significant role to oppose any other attempt being made to impose an Emergency like that by former PM Indira Gandhi.
In Delhi, when people want delivery of good service after 27 years of misrule in the city, we as women politicians must have the capability to understand the needs of people and deliver the goods, CM Gupta said.
Earlier, the Delhi BJP released a short video on its X handle as part of the Emergency 50 protest. The video carried the message: “Democracy wasn’t just paused. It was strangled and put behind bars, beneath fear and silence.”
The video titled ‘Emergency Never Again – June 25, 1975, The night democracy died’ shows a character, purportedly similar to late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, walking away barefoot, leaving behind footprints on the ground that highlight the dark aspects of the Emergency.
As the character walks onto the screen, the ground highlights: “Constitution Torn, Democracy Strangled, Press Silenced, Voices Crushed, Opposition Arrested, Innocents Jailed, No Right to Life”.
Crime
Parents of Kolkata law college rape victim should be ready for long battle like us: RG Kar victim’s parents

Kolkata, June 28: In the midst of the outrage and politics over the rape of a woman in a Kolkata law college, the parents of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder victim stated on Saturday that the law student’s parents should also be ready to fight a protracted legal battle.
Their comments came days after a Kolkata-based law college student became a victim of rape within the college premises on June 25 evening.
They stated that the woman’s parents should also be ready for a long battle considering the influential backing enjoyed by the three accused in the case.
The mother of the junior doctor who became a victim of a ghastly rape and murder in August last year, expressed apprehension that like the case of her daughter, there might be attempts to protect the accused in the law college rape case also in the due course.
Hence, they feel that what is required now is a mass movement exactly in line with what happened after the heinous crime with their daughter.
“What is even more shocking is that even after the tragedy with my daughter, there was not enough initiative to ensure the safety of women within educational institutions where they study. The administration and ruling party are now trying to shy away from their responsibilities over the crime in the law college rape. It is natural. But the reality is that the influential backing that the accused persons enjoyed gave them the courage to conduct such a heinous crime within the college premises,” the R.G Kar victim’s mother said.
The father of the R.G. Kar victim said that he fears that like the case of his daughter, there might be attempts by influential people and even a section within the administration to protect the accused.
“So I also feel that the parents of the victim in the law college case should also be prepared for a long battle like us. They should understand that the administration will not do anything and they will have to fight their own battle as we have been doing. What the victim’s parents need now is the spontaneous public support which we have received,” he said.
All the three accused in the case, namely Monojit Mishra, Zaib Ahmed, and Pramit Mukhopadhyay were linked to Trinamool Congress’ students’ wing Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP).
Pictures of Mishra with different top and heavyweight Trinamool Congress leaders have already flooded social media. While Mishra is a former student of the same law college, the other two are existing students.
All three of them, on Friday, were remanded to police custody till July 1.
-
Crime3 years ago
Class 10 student jumps to death in Jaipur
-
Maharashtra9 months ago
Mumbai Local Train Update: Central Railway’s New Timetable Comes Into Effect; Check Full List Of Revised Timings & Stations
-
Maharashtra9 months ago
Mumbai To Go Toll-Free Tonight! Maharashtra Govt Announces Complete Toll Waiver For Light Motor Vehicles At All 5 Entry Points Of City
-
Maharashtra9 months ago
False photo of Imtiaz Jaleel’s rally, exposing the fooling conspiracy
-
Crime9 months ago
Baba Siddique Murder: Mumbai Police Unable To Get Lawrence Bishnoi Custody Due To Home Ministry Order, Says Report
-
National News9 months ago
Ministry of Railways rolls out Special Drive 4.0 with focus on digitisation, cleanliness, inclusiveness and grievance redressal
-
Maharashtra8 months ago
Maharashtra Elections 2024: Mumbai Metro & BEST Services Extended Till Midnight On Voting Day
-
National News9 months ago
J&K: 4 Jawans Killed, 28 Injured After Bus Carrying BSF Personnel For Poll Duty Falls Into Gorge In Budgam; Terrifying Visuals Surface