Asko Parpola - Human Sacrifice In India in Vedic Times And Before
Farm2Kitchen in The Times of India
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Sandeep Rai of Sav Tiffin Services, which provides tiffin services to companies like Sapient, Alcatel and Capgemini, has been into the business for three years now. “I started with supplying 10 tiffin three years back in Sapient where I used to sell corporate mobile phone cards,” says Mr Rai. “During my interactions with the employees I came to know that they were looking for good-quality home-made food at reasonable prices. It was then that I decided to venture into the business,” he said. At present, Mr Rai delivers 300 tiffin, at Rs 50 each with a menu that includes four chappatis, rice, dal, vegetable, sweet dish, salad and pickle. However, the service is not just about providing a simple meal of pulses, vegetables and chappatis. “Health of an employee is an important part of our service,” says Mr Rai. “The population that has come to Gurgaon over the years is very conscious about what they are eating.” Mr Vohra of Tulip echoes Mr Rai’s sentiment: “They want to know about the oil that is being used and prefer food that is non-fried and have a higher nutritional content. We take care of all these as- pects and even mention the nutritional content and the number of calories a dish contains in the buffet.” In spite of high demand, the competition is immense as almost every day one new service provider enters the market. To stay in business, no company can afford to cut corners by compromising on quality. “I supply the same food to the employees in the company that my family eats at home,” says Monica Arora of Pankaj Tiffin Services. “The entire business is dependent on quality. Small companies or big, all employees look forward to home-made food and that is my strength,” she adds. Most tiffin providers in the city with less number of clients run their business from their houses. Mr Vohra of Tulip, however, is of the view that while people have started these services from homes and is provid- ing food at cheaper rates than them, they won’t be able to sustain the business for long. “There is a market for everyone but if they are working with the company they should understand that it is not as easy as it seems. If you don’t have a passion and planning, one cannot sustain business. A lot of planning and man- agement goes into it to make sure that the food reaches on time everyday, be it traffic jams, rains or high water.” Rightly so. Bharat Sindhu had to stop his tiffin services as he could not cope up with delivery issues such as traffic and timing. “There is so much traffic in Gurgaon that the delivery boys used to get late and obvi- ously, the employees would be annoyed. When they used to go a bit early, employees use to crib that khana thanda ho gaya (the food got cold). Also taking out payment from some companies was a pain, so I decid- ed to close the services.” However, there are others like 26-year old Rishi Arora of True Kitchen, who thinks that the business holds immense potential. Mr Arora started his tiffin services delivering two tiffins four-five months back and is to- day delivering 125 to several offices that in- cludes Dhoot Group. “I started the business with a logic that there was not much initial investment and I could start it from home with the help of my sister and mother. Companies will continue to come up in Gurgaon and so will be the employees. So, demand will never decrease for our services,” he said, adding that the mantra for venturing into this business is qual- ity food and timely delivery. [email protected] CMYK FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 03 Business Street *FTDD140611//03/K/1* *FTDD140611//03/K/1* FTDD140611/1R1/03/K/1 *FTDD140611//03/Y/1* *FTDD140611//03/Y/1* FTDD140611/1R1/03/Y/1 *FTDD140611//03/M/1* *FTDD140611//03/M/1* FTDD140611/1R1/03/M/1 *FTDD140611//03/C/1* *FTDD140611//03/C/1* FTDD140611/1R1/03/C/1 MANSI TEWARI GURGAON N OT only is growing your own virtual farm on Facebook pos- sible, but also ordering your veggies through the social network- ing site has been made possible for the Gurgaon residents by Farm2Kitchen. Seema Dholi the brain behind Farm2Kitchen, an online grocery shopping portal where the residents of Gurgaon can order their groceries and pay cash on delivery was opened early this year for public. The idea for such a portal clicked for the fashion trader turned entrepreneur when she was expecting her first child and had difficulty getting quality farm produce. “By combining technology with business strategy, Farm2Kitchen simplifies life for those who do not enjoy grocery shopping and those who are pressed for time to shop,” she said. The portal that was opened with just six to seven customers and has now registered over 200 regular cus- tomers. The marketing strategy used by the smart entrepreneur was to use the social networking sites effectively to her advantage. Mrs Dholi said, “Farm2Kitchen shop on Facebook is becoming quite popular with the working class in Gurgaon as they are connected to their friends most of the times on social networks like Facebook during their working hours. In fact we are the first e-Com dealing in farm produce in India to offer shopping on social network.” The company also promotes the freshly grown vegetables on Twitter and ForSquare for marketing. For regular customers there is a ‘Farm2Kitchen App’ in Google Chrome web store. Farm2Kitchen’s revenue comes from online sale of organic food and fresh farm produce. “Customers are open to buying online these days. When it comes to online shopping, the experience itself is the driving factor most of the times. No one wants to spend time in malls & stores and given the challenges like time constraints, traffic, odd working hours etc., people nowadays prefer shopping online from the comforts of their home,” as she learnt from her own past experience. Since people generally prefer pick- ing the best out of the lot when they go grocery shopping, how do you en- sure the best quality online? “We procure all our fresh farm produce directly from farmer’s market at Khandsa in Gurgaon. Up to 80% of our produce is grown locally around NCR; the rest is sourced nationally or internationally. For organic products, we have tied up with a Jaipur based organization and they provide us the needed inventory and all our organic food is certified as per International Standards – USDA, EU and INDIA NOP,” said Mrs Dholi on the quality of the products sold online. “We have our own team members who procure best vegetables and fruits from the market as we are very seri- ous about the quality. If we do tie up with any vendor in the future, we will first train the vendor about the quality needs of veggies as per Farm2Kitchen standards,” she explained. The owner claims that it is the su- perior quality and prompt service that is getting them customers regu- larly, Mrs Dholi feels the target for the company is to establish them- selves in the local market. “From September 1, 2011 onwards we will be delivering across all the areas of Gurgaon city. The only exclusion will be Palam Vihar and Old Gurgaon area due to logistics challenges.” Since the items sold on the portal are mostly perishable storing them though is smartly managed. “At Farm2Kitchen we use the ware- house model for assembling our or- ders. We have a company operated central distribution warehouse to store, pick and pack the groceries as ordered by the shopper’s for delivery. This model reduces overhead costs, generates the lowest-fees possible to customers, and is the most efficient,” explained the owner who currently has six people working for her. The portal also has some unique features which Dholi claims that no other portal provides for. “We have taken the chore out of getting fresh vegetables & fruits by ensuring that our delivery service matches the con- venience and flexibility of a super- market. For example with our ‘Auto Delivery’ you can you can order your frequently needed grocery at one go and relax for months!” “We cater to the specific needs of the people like we offer special deliv- eries for pregnant women and in- fants, certified organic food, special food for people with special needs e.g. a diabetic person,” said Mrs Dholi. As for the pricing the products are slightly competitive. “Our price dif- ference varies from 5 to15 percent (more) than the market rates. At times, we even sell at less than the market price! You can get veggies at lower prices in the market but then quality comes with a price.” said Mrs Dholi. In addition to offering a safer, more pleasant shopping environ- ment, Farm2Kitchen.com also offers a comprehensive inventory of Organic Food. “We have also taken steps to offset our carbon footprint by using eco friendly vehicles to do all of our customers' shipping and delivery. All our deliveries are delivered to customers’ doorsteps with the help of electric bikes and all our deliveries are delivered in environment friend- ly bags,” said the environment con- scious entrepreneur. Fram2Kitchen soon plans to ex- pand its network pan India. Mrs Dholi said, “We are working on a model to take Farm2Kitchen nationwide - starting with delivery of Organic Food in major cities across India.” “We might also add new products, includ- ing packaged ready to eat organic food in our selection. Some other cate- gories which we are thinking to in- clude are dairy products and kitchen- ware in the future,” she added. [email protected] Now, Order Veggies For your Kitchen on a Click On portal Farm2Kitchen Gurgaon residents can order groceries and pay cash on delivery With Europe and America facing anaemic growth, private equity players investing in re- tail are now looking for the opportunity in Asia. “India is a strong contender to be the next fash- ion capital of the world as fashion conscious consumers are not shying away from spending money on high-end quality products,” said Pradeep Hirani, chairman, Kimaya Fashions. With disposable income going up in the metros and mini metros, a larger chunk of the monthly expenditure now goes into clothing. That apart, consumers are moving away from the un- branded market to a more organised branded segment with designer wear brands offering as- pirational value as well. “Fund managers have realised the immense potential of investing at this stage, as they know this industry will only expand and that too at a fast pace,” Hirani added. PE firms are focusing on a host of niche sec- tors such as beauty, wellness and fitness as India’s domestic consumption expands rapidly. Among PE deals sealed in the luxury fashion wear segment Franklin Templeton Private Equity Strategy in July acquired a 20% stake Kimaya Fashions for about . 60 crore while Biba Apparels raised $4 million from Future Ventures in April. Ludhiana-based apparel re- tailer Monte Carlo is looking to raise about . 300 crore through a mix of PE placement and public issue. In 2008, Genesis Colors had raised . 110 crore from three investors––Sequoia Capital Fund, Mayfield Fund and Silicon Valley Bank. Inditex Group of Spain, one of the worlds largest fashion distributors, is gearing up to promote Massimo Dutti stores in India through a joint venture with Trent, the retail- ing arm of the Tata Group. Emails sent to both the groups remained unanswered but a person with direct knowledge of the development said the company plans to open at least three- four stores in the first year of operations. Massimo Dutti offers collections from easy-go- ing casual wear to high-end fashion across 542 stores in 50 countries, while Trent owns and manages a number of retail chains in India, in- cluding Westside, one of India’s largest and fastestgrowing chain of lifestyle retail stores and Star Bazaar, a hypermarket chain. “The rise in disposable incomes has led to increased demand for luxury goods amongst affluent Indians, said Harshendu Bindal, President at Franklin Templeton. India a Strong Contender Timely Delivery a Major Challenge THE Haryana State Assembly has removed the ceiling on land ownership by a person or entity in the case of non-agricultural land in urban and industrial zones. This will bring relief to private developers who won't have to float different firms to acquire patches of land for building apartments or townships in the state, something they were forced to do surreptitiously until now. The state revenue department had issued an ordinance on simi- lar lines a fortnight ago, removing the ceiling on non-agricultural holdings;but, now,with the law passed even by the state assembly, any uncertainty over the future course of events has been dis- pelled. With this single stroke, the Haryana Government has put an end to all uncertainties on housing, industrial and infrastruc- ture projects,which have come up in the past 36 years.The new law will be retrospectively applied,from 1975. Until now,the max- imum land holding allowed in Haryana ranged between 7.5 and 18 hectares. Revenue department officials said that the developments in all urban centres of Haryana including Gurgaon,Faridabad and Panchkula have happened on land blocks, which were earlier meant for agricultural purposes.The state's land ceiling laws were formulated when the state was an agrarian society.But now things have changed with hectic residential and commercial develop- ments taking place in parts of the state that fall under the National Capital Region. Recently, a division bench comprising Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice R K Garg of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ques- tioned the manner in which companies in Haryana were mush- rooming and the way a number of companies are incorporated by a single company to buy land from owners. The bench had ob- served that this trend indicated a design to defeat provisions of the Haryana Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972, or the tax statute. The court also told the state that before granting licence to any of private companies, the state needed to see whether it had itself not violated the act. It also observed that the "corporate veil needs to be lifted" so as to know "the real operator". The recent legislation is also seen as a pro-development act by the state considering that the housing demand is likely to go up in the NCR in the next few years. Recently, the state had also brought changes in the minimum requirement of land for constructing a multistorey complex to facilitate the small players to be a part of the development. "Where is the land left? How can you have very high norms that none can meet? So, changes have been made to bring greater transparency and this has been done keeping in mind the ground situation. Earlier, developers were doing the same thing in some guise or the other. The government has brought transparency," says Shiv Bhatia, media adviser to the chief minis- ter of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The state revenue department had issued an ordinance on simi- lar lines, removing the ceiling on non-agricultural holdings; but, now, with the law passed even by the state assembly, any uncer- tainty over the future course of events has been dispelled. With this stroke, the Haryana Government has put an end to all uncer- tainties on housing, industrial and infrastructure projects, which have come up in the past 36 years. The new law will be applied, from 1975. Until now, the maximum land holding in Haryana ranged between 7.5 and 18 hectares. OUR BUREAU No ceiling on non-farm lands RNI NO 57252/93, Published by K.C. Jain for & on behalf of the Owners Times Publishing House Ltd. at Times House, No 7, Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110103 and printed by him at The Times of India Press 13 and 15/1, Site IV, Industrial Area, Sahibabad (U.P.). Consulting Editor: Shivendra Kumar Singh. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the Publishers is prohibited. Pricing of the products on the online grocery portal are slightly competitive. The price difference varies from 5 to15 percent (more) than the market rates. At times, they even sell at less than the market price Continued from Page 1 Continued from Page 1
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The Times of India (Financial Times) covered Farm2Kitchen on 22nd September 2011.
Transcript of Farm2Kitchen in The Times of India
Sandeep Rai of Sav Tiffin Services, which provides tiffinservices to companies like Sapient, Alcatel andCapgemini, has been into the business for three yearsnow. “I started with supplying 10 tiffin three years backin Sapient where I used to sell corporate mobile phonecards,” says Mr Rai. “During my interactions with theemployees I came to know that they were looking forgood-quality home-made food at reasonable prices. Itwas then that I decided to venture into the business,”he said. At present, Mr Rai delivers 300 tiffin, at Rs 50each with a menu that includes four chappatis, rice, dal,vegetable, sweet dish, salad and pickle.
However, the service is not just about providing asimple meal of pulses, vegetables and chappatis.
“Health of an employee is an important part of ourservice,” says Mr Rai. “The population that has come toGurgaon over the years is very conscious about whatthey are eating.” Mr Vohra of Tulip echoes Mr Rai’ssentiment: “They want to know about the oil that isbeing used and prefer food that is non-fried and have ahigher nutritional content. We take care of all these as-pects and even mention the nutritional content andthe number of calories a dish contains in the buffet.”
In spite of high demand, the competition is immense
as almost every day one new service provider enters themarket. To stay in business, no company can afford tocut corners by compromising on quality. “I supply thesame food to the employees in the company that myfamily eats at home,” says Monica Arora of Pankaj TiffinServices. “The entire business is dependent on quality.Small companies or big, all employees look forward tohome-made food and that is my strength,” she adds.
Most tiffin providers in the city with less number ofclients run their business from their houses. Mr Vohraof Tulip, however, is of the view that while peoplehave started these services from homes and is provid-ing food at cheaper rates than them, they won’t be ableto sustain the business for long. “There is a market foreveryone but if they are working with the companythey should understand that it is not as easy as itseems. If you don’t have a passion and planning, onecannot sustain business. A lot of planning and man-agement goes into it to make sure that thefood reaches on time everyday, be it trafficjams, rains or high water.”
Rightly so. Bharat Sindhu had to stop histiffin services as he could not cope up withdelivery issues such as traffic and timing.“There is so much traffic in Gurgaon thatthe delivery boys used to get late and obvi-ously, the employees would be annoyed.When they used to go a bit early, employeesuse to crib that khana thanda ho gaya (thefood got cold). Also taking out paymentfrom some companies was a pain, so I decid-ed to close the services.”
However, there are others like 26-yearold Rishi Arora of True Kitchen, who thinksthat the business holds immense potential.Mr Arora started his tiffin services deliveringtwo tiffins four-five months back and is to-day delivering 125 to several offices that in-cludes Dhoot Group. “I started the businesswith a logic that there was not much initialinvestment and I could start it from homewith the help of my sister and mother.Companies will continue to come up in
Gurgaon and so will be the employees. So, demandwill never decrease for our services,” he said, addingthat the mantra for venturing into this business is qual-ity food and timely delivery.
CMYK
FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW DELHI, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 03Business Street
*FTDD140611/ /03/K/1*
*FTDD140611/ /03/K/1*FTDD140611/1R1/03/K/1
*FTDD140611/ /03/Y/1*
*FTDD140611/ /03/Y/1*FTDD140611/1R1/03/Y/1
*FTDD140611/ /03/M/1*
*FTDD140611/ /03/M/1*FTDD140611/1R1/03/M/1
*FTDD140611/ /03/C/1*
*FTDD140611/ /03/C/1*FTDD140611/1R1/03/C/1
MANSI TEWARI GURGAON
NOT only is growing your ownvirtual farm on Facebook pos-sible, but also ordering your
veggies through the social network-ing site has been made possible forthe Gurgaon residents byFarm2Kitchen.
Seema Dholi the brain behindFarm2Kitchen, an online groceryshopping portal where the residentsof Gurgaon can order their groceriesand pay cash on delivery was openedearly this year for public. The idea forsuch a portal clicked for the fashiontrader turned entrepreneur whenshe was expecting her first child andhad difficulty getting quality farmproduce. “By combining technologywith business strategy,Farm2Kitchen simplifies life for thosewho do not enjoy grocery shoppingand those who are pressed for time toshop,” she said.
The portal that was opened withjust six to seven customers and hasnow registered over 200 regular cus-tomers. The marketing strategy usedby the smart entrepreneur was to usethe social networking sites effectivelyto her advantage. Mrs Dholi said,“Farm2Kitchen shop on Facebook isbecoming quite popular with theworking class in Gurgaon as they areconnected to their friends most of thetimes on social networks likeFacebook during their workinghours. In fact we are the first e-Comdealing in farm produce in India tooffer shopping on social network.”The company also promotes thefreshly grown vegetables on Twitterand ForSquare for marketing. Forregular customers there is a‘Farm2Kitchen App’ in Google
Chrome web store.Farm2Kitchen’s revenue comes
from online sale of organic food andfresh farm produce. “Customers areopen to buying online these days.When it comes to online shopping,the experience itself is the drivingfactor most of the times. No onewants to spend time in malls & storesand given the challenges like timeconstraints, traffic, odd workinghours etc., people nowadays prefershopping online from the comforts of
their home,” as she learnt from herown past experience.
Since people generally prefer pick-ing the best out of the lot when theygo grocery shopping, how do you en-sure the best quality online? “Weprocure all our fresh farm producedirectly from farmer’s market atKhandsa in Gurgaon. Up to 80% ofour produce is grown locally aroundNCR; the rest is sourced nationally orinternationally. For organic products,we have tied up with a Jaipur basedorganization and they provide us theneeded inventory and all our organicfood is certified as per InternationalStandards – USDA, EU and INDIANOP,” said Mrs Dholi on the qualityof the products sold online.
“We have our own team memberswho procure best vegetables and fruitsfrom the market as we are very seri-ous about the quality. If we do tie upwith any vendor in the future, we willfirst train the vendor about the qualityneeds of veggies as per Farm2Kitchenstandards,” she explained.
The owner claims that it is the su-perior quality and prompt servicethat is getting them customers regu-larly, Mrs Dholi feels the target forthe company is to establish them-selves in the local market. “FromSeptember 1, 2011 onwards we willbe delivering across all the areas ofGurgaon city. The only exclusion willbe Palam Vihar and Old Gurgaonarea due to logistics challenges.”
Since the items sold on the portal
are mostly perishable storing themthough is smartly managed. “AtFarm2Kitchen we use the ware-house model for assembling our or-ders. We have a company operatedcentral distribution warehouse tostore, pick and pack the groceries asordered by the shopper’s for delivery.This model reduces overhead costs,generates the lowest-fees possible tocustomers, and is the most efficient,”explained the owner who currentlyhas six people working for her.
The portal also has some uniquefeatures which Dholi claims that noother portal provides for. “We havetaken the chore out of getting freshvegetables & fruits by ensuring thatour delivery service matches the con-venience and flexibility of a super-
market. For example with our ‘AutoDelivery’ you can you can order yourfrequently needed grocery at one goand relax for months!”
“We cater to the specific needs ofthe people like we offer special deliv-eries for pregnant women and in-fants, certified organic food, specialfood for people with special needse.g. a diabetic person,” said MrsDholi.
As for the pricing the products areslightly competitive. “Our price dif-ference varies from 5 to15 percent(more) than the market rates. Attimes, we even sell at less than themarket price! You can get veggies atlower prices in the market but thenquality comes with a price.” said MrsDholi.
In addition to offering a safer,more pleasant shopping environ-ment, Farm2Kitchen.com also offersa comprehensive inventory ofOrganic Food. “We have also takensteps to offset our carbon footprint byusing eco friendly vehicles to do all ofour customers' shipping and delivery.All our deliveries are delivered tocustomers’ doorsteps with the help ofelectric bikes and all our deliveriesare delivered in environment friend-ly bags,” said the environment con-scious entrepreneur.
Fram2Kitchen soon plans to ex-pand its network pan India. Mrs Dholisaid, “We are working on a model totake Farm2Kitchen nationwide -starting with delivery of Organic Foodin major cities across India.” “Wemight also add new products, includ-ing packaged ready to eat organic foodin our selection. Some other cate-gories which we are thinking to in-clude are dairy products and kitchen-ware in the future,” she added.
Now, Order Veggies Foryour Kitchen on a Click On portal Farm2Kitchen Gurgaon residents can order groceries and pay cash on delivery
With Europe and America facing anaemicgrowth, private equity players investing in re-tail are now looking for the opportunity in Asia.“India is a strong contender to be the next fash-ion capital of the world as fashion consciousconsumers are not shying away from spendingmoney on high-end quality products,” saidPradeep Hirani, chairman, Kimaya Fashions.With disposable income going up in the metrosand mini metros, a larger chunk of the monthlyexpenditure now goes into clothing. That apart,consumers are moving away from the un-branded market to a more organised brandedsegment with designer wear brands offering as-pirational value as well.
“Fund managers have realised the immensepotential of investing at this stage, as theyknow this industry will only expand and thattoo at a fast pace,” Hirani added.
PE firms are focusing on a host of niche sec-tors such as beauty, wellness and fitness asIndia’s domestic consumption expands rapidly.
Among PE deals sealed in the luxury fashionwear segment Franklin Templeton PrivateEquity Strategy in July acquired a 20% stakeKimaya Fashions for about . 60 crore while
Biba Apparels raised $4 million from FutureVentures in April. Ludhiana-based apparel re-tailer Monte Carlo is looking to raise about .300 crore through a mix of PE placement andpublic issue.
In 2008, Genesis Colors had raised . 110crore from three investors––Sequoia CapitalFund, Mayfield Fund and Silicon Valley Bank.
Inditex Group of Spain, one of the worldslargest fashion distributors, is gearing up topromote Massimo Dutti stores in Indiathrough a joint venture with Trent, the retail-ing arm of the Tata Group. Emails sent to boththe groups remained unanswered but a personwith direct knowledge of the development said the company plans to open at least three-four stores in the first year of operations.Massimo Dutti offers collections from easy-go-ing casual wear to high-end fashion across 542stores in 50 countries, while Trent owns andmanages a number of retail chains in India, in-cluding Westside, one of India’s largest andfastestgrowing chain of lifestyle retail storesand Star Bazaar, a hypermarket chain. “Therise in disposable incomes has led to increaseddemand for luxury goods amongst affluentIndians, said Harshendu Bindal, President atFranklin Templeton.
India a Strong Contender
Timely Delivery a Major Challenge
THE Haryana State Assembly has removed the ceiling on landownership by a person or entity in the case of non-agriculturalland in urban and industrial zones. This will bring relief to privatedevelopers who won't have to float different firms to acquirepatches of land for building apartments or townships in the state,something they were forced to do surreptitiously until now.
The state revenue department had issued an ordinance on simi-lar lines a fortnight ago, removing the ceiling on non-agriculturalholdings;but, now,with the law passed even by the state assembly,any uncertainty over the future course of events has been dis-pelled. With this single stroke, the Haryana Government has putan end to all uncertainties on housing, industrial and infrastruc-ture projects,which have come up in the past 36 years.The newlaw will be retrospectively applied,from 1975. Until now,the max-imum land holding allowed in Haryana ranged between 7.5 and18 hectares.
Revenue department officials said that the developments in allurban centres of Haryana including Gurgaon,Faridabad andPanchkula have happened on land blocks, which were earliermeant for agricultural purposes.The state's land ceiling laws wereformulated when the state was an agrarian society.But now thingshave changed with hectic residential and commercial develop-ments taking place in parts of the state that fall under the NationalCapital Region.
Recently, a division bench comprising Justice Jasbir Singh andJustice R K Garg of the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ques-tioned the manner in which companies in Haryana were mush-rooming and the way a number of companies are incorporated bya single company to buy land from owners. The bench had ob-served that this trend indicated a design to defeat provisions of theHaryana Ceiling on Land Holdings Act, 1972, or the tax statute.
The court also told the state that before granting licence to anyof private companies, the state needed to see whether it had itselfnot violated the act. It also observed that the "corporate veil needsto be lifted" so as to know "the real operator".
The recent legislation is also seen as a pro-development act bythe state considering that the housing demand is likely to go up inthe NCR in the next few years. Recently, the state had also broughtchanges in the minimum requirement of land for constructing amultistorey complex to facilitate the small players to be a part ofthe development. "Where is the land left? How can you have veryhigh norms that none can meet? So, changes have been made tobring greater transparency and this has been done keeping in mindthe ground situation. Earlier, developers were doing the samething in some guise or the other. The government has broughttransparency," says Shiv Bhatia, media adviser to the chief minis-ter of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
The state revenue department had issued an ordinance on simi-lar lines, removing the ceiling on non-agricultural holdings; but,now, with the law passed even by the state assembly, any uncer-tainty over the future course of events has been dispelled. Withthis stroke, the Haryana Government has put an end to all uncer-tainties on housing, industrial and infrastructure projects, whichhave come up in the past 36 years. The new law will be applied,from 1975. Until now, the maximum land holding in Haryanaranged between 7.5 and 18 hectares.
OUR BUREAU
No ceiling onnon-farm lands
RNI NO 57252/93, Published by K.C. Jain for & on behalf of the Owners Times Publishing House Ltd. at Times House, No 7,Bahadurshah Zafar Marg, New Delhi – 110103 and printed by him at The Times of India Press 13 and 15/1, Site IV, IndustrialArea, Sahibabad (U.P.). Consulting Editor: Shivendra Kumar Singh. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in partwithout written permission of the Publishers is prohibited.
Pricing of the products onthe online grocery portalare slightly competitive.
The price difference variesfrom 5 to15 percent (more)than the market rates. Attimes, they even sell at
less than the market price
Continued from Page 1
Continued from Page 1
