By Ankit Ranka
India, the land of diversity, isn’t fully understood till the time one experiences its richness by travelling, working and living here. I grew up in India listening to the voices of different “wallas” delivering things at our doorstep – milk-wala, newspaper-wala, vegetable-wala and now even paani-wala, tiffin-wala, laundry-wala, gas-wala. These businesses have practically covered every household in India, delivering essential supplies that public bodies such as municipalities or state/central government can’t even think of.
When we started our work on building the prototype of our business in the first half of 2019, little did we know that we were addressing a very diverse group of businesses with common problems that we later called “daily delivery businesses”; businesses that deliver essentials at the doorstep daily. What set out to be a small project for water jar delivery businesses turned out to be solving a problem for a large swathe of delivery businesses. Over 20 million of these businesses operate in every single village to the biggest of the towns in India. Through the decades (and even centuries), these businesses have seen everything from India’s freedom struggle to the digital revolution. Yet, one thing has remained constant – through all ups and downs, they have become stronger and served the Indian population in meaningful ways.
I lived in the US for over seven years – studied, worked and started a software company there. One thing that I always missed there was the “delivery” of household stuff. Although tech startups have now filled those gaps, they are expensive and not used by most of the population. That said, drinking water is something most people don’t have to worry about in the US – tap water is safe to drink! There are signs suggesting tap water is unsafe to drink if that isn’t the case. This is something we will probably never have in India, given the crazy infrastructure that this kind of venture will require for the population size of India.
On the other hand, we might not even need it. The proliferation of water delivery businesses in India is our answer to the potable drinking water problem. It’s a testament to the grit of Indian entrepreneurs who deliver these water jars to consumers at a price almost 5x lower than the packaged brands. With per capita income rising for multiple decades and increasing health awareness, Indians now understand the importance of clean drinking water, and water jars have now become part of every event, commercial establishment and household.
In the ongoing pandemic, when central and state governments imposed lockdowns daily delivery businesses were spared from it. When the local administration in the Indore district banned milk delivery in lockdown, it led to protests, and the ban was revoked the next day. In many ways, they are the Corona warriors that kept India safe and fulfilled the essential needs of the common man. Local municipalities in Chennai and Hyderabad have always asked for the support of water can vendors in times of water scarcity. Not only in tough times but in good times, these daily delivery businesses have provided exceptional service and made sure they stay relevant in India’s growth journey. Today we are witnessing an eagerness among delivery vendors in tier-2, 3 or 4 cities, small towns and even villages with less than 10,000 population to adopt digital solutions and move away from old ways of running the business.
(Ankit Ranka is Co-founder and Head of Product at GoPaani, a daily delivery business management app, which helps suppliers manage their business in the most hassle-free way. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)
