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West Bengal’s GIS Mapping of 570 MSME clusters, What This Means?

Vaishali Das — Fri, 30 Jul 2021 03:35:12 +0000

West Bengal, India’s sixth largest state in terms of economic size, is emerging as a leading IT and electronics hub. Being the eastern hub of business and finance sector, the state primarily depends upon agriculture and medium-sized industry. Major industries are located in and around the state capital, Kolkata, mineral-rich areas and Haldia port region. The market of the state varies from tea, sugar, jute to chemicals and fertilizers, giving a wide scope of doing business in the sector.

West Bengal – Ease of Doing Business

There are around 10,000 factories registered in the state. The government has also opened a single window system, Silpa Sathi, to provide all facilitations and handholding support to the investors intending to start a business of operating a business in the state.

The West Bengal Government has brought various industry friendly policies to ensure ease of doing business in the state. Another such initiative is the Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping that has been recently announced by the state government.

What is the GIS Mapping Initiative?

As micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are the key sectors of West Bengal’s economy, the state government initiated a GIS mapping of the existing 570 MSME cluster. Over the past 10 years, the MSME sector has evolved into a crucial contributor to the state’s economy. Earlier there were only 30 MSME clusters. With the constant support of government in the form of facility centers, creating storage facilities and providing necessary machinery and infrastructure the number of MSME cluster has gone up to 570.

The initiative is to assess the availability of infrastructure and skill workers in these industrial facilities and help improve ease of doing business in the state.

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With an aim of creating a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas within the state, the government is moving towards smart logistics planning.

Why West Bengal Government Started This Initiative?

The survey will benefit both the government and industry workers. With the help of the detailed data, which will be collected by the survey, the government will be able to identify the infrastructural gap in the existing clusters. A strategy to strengthen the services among these sectors will become easier for the government.

Along with this, the mapping will also provide the exact location of the existing clusters so that the state can have details of infrastructure, availability of land and skill of labourers working in these industrial areas. Results of this survey will also enable the government in their decision making on how and when to provide help to the clusters.

On the other hand, businessmen will have easy access to all the infrastructure and resources which will help them in setting up their businesses. This is another big opportunity for MSMEs to get government’s support for launching and scaling their business and also to get investment opportunities. For industry workers, it is an opportunity to get more valuable jobs.

What All Sectors Will It Cover?

The GIS mapping survey will majorly cover the MSMEs clusters. It will also include the handloom and khadi sectors. Other sectors that will come under this are furniture, incense sticks, jari clusters, etc. Artisans can easily go to these centers and use machineries installed by the state government.

Insights For Business Owners

With an aim of creating a GIS-enabled database of industrial areas within the state, the government is moving towards smart logistics planning. This kind of survey is beneficial for both the government and artisans.

Business owners can access the data from the official website and can plan their future venture smoothly. They can also get the details of the skilled workers and can have ready-made manpower. As it is a part of e-governance initiative, the state is aiming to give clearances to projects digitally. This will ease-up the long procedure of getting official documents for business setup.

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Jigarthanda, the Drink from Madurai

Aakash Sharma — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 05:35:09 +0000

Food, culture, and legacy – this is the most time-tested and overwhelmingly powerful trio that has historically contributed to the making of regimes, civilisations and more recently, brands. India is one of the most diverse countries in the world. And this diversity has impacted the long-standing traditions and cultures of this land for centuries.

Taking from this vast and diversified culture, the ‘Food’ in India is also one of the best to be found anywhere worldwide. From Kashmir’s famous Dumaaloo and Rogan Josh, Bihar’s Litti Chokha, and Sikkim’s Gundruk and Sinki, to Rajasthan’s Gatte ki Sabzi, Karnataka’s Dosa, and Tamil Nadu’s Idli, the ‘great Indian food’ is a jewel of pride on every Indian’s head. This pride is felt unanimously by people across religious, social, economic and political lines.

This story is about one such revolutionary, universally loved ‘famous’ beverage that has come to be known as the de facto beverage of Madurai, enticing tourists from faraway lands of all walks of life and quenching the thirst of locals with excellent taste – the Famous Jigarthanda company.

Madurai’s Jigarthanda – A Meeting of Taste and Cultures

Jigarthanda (ஜிகர்தண்டா in Tamil) is a cold beverage that is famous in the South Indian city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, India. It literally translates to “cool heart” in English (Jigar means heart, Thanda means cold in Hindustani). This beverage is generally prepared and served at roadside stalls as a refreshment during the Indian summer. It is effectively a cold drink made of milk, almond Pisin (gum derived from the bark of the sweet almond tree), khoya, sarsaparilla root syrup (nannari sherbet syrup) with alternatives of basundi and milk ice cream as toppings.

A drink seemingly born in the local markets of Madurai is now largely regarded as the city’s own drink, with many restaurants and bakeries now selling ‘Madurai’s’ jigarthanda counters. However, anyone familiar with Tamil can spot that the name ‘jigarthanda’ is not Tamil enough to be born in Madurai.

So, where did jigarthanda come from?

Differing Roots of this Now Truly Madurai drink

Jigarthanda is synonymous with Madurai, even though it may not have been born there. Some experts say that the influence of this cold beverage came from the North. They say that the concept for jigarthanda and the widely famous North Indian falooda are essentially the same. Just that in falooda, chefs use almond pisin, semiya, sabja seeds and rooh afza, while for jigarthanda, they use milk ice cream, milk, nannari sharbat, basundi and almond pisin.

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The drink's nomenclature, which has etymological roots in the North Indian language of Urdu, is further cited as a source for the drink's connection to the North. 'Jigar' means heart, and 'thanda' means cool, and thus jigarthanda translates to 'cool heart'.

But the one thing that is certain regarding jigarthanda is the role of a legacy brand that started from a tiny pushcart in the 1970s and today has expanded to over 200 outlets of this ‘famous’ beverage, the iconic ‘Famous Jigarthanda’ of Madurai.

The iconic ‘Famous Jigarthanda’ of Madurai

Today, Famous Jigarthanda is a household name in the city of Madurai. Started by P.S. Sheik Meeran at the Kaalavasal junction in Madurai in 1977, the business has gone full circle, from Sheik Meeran initially selling ice creams made of milk, sugar and vanilla essence on a pushcart to selling thousands of glasses of jigarthanda during the season’s peak.

When Sheik Meeran began selling the jigarthanda on his pushcart, it immediately became his most sought-after product, and people bought it overwhelmingly. Though this drink is available everywhere, Famous Jigarthanda’s became quite different from the others over the years due to the mixing of ‘basundi’ for adding more taste to the drink.

In simple terms, Jigarthanda is a cold beverage like falooda, but the taste of the two drinks is entirely different. What separates the Jigarthanda from its northern cousin is pisin. While the latter uses vermicelli and is scooped up and eaten, the Jigarthanda is stirred and drunk.

Sheik Meeran’s farming ancestors hailed from Yangon, Myanmar. Tales of the Meeran family say that Sheik Meeran’s grandfather was the one who first made up a drink comprising basundi (condensed milk), milk and edible almond gum. He coincidentally came up with a version of Jigarthanda that was hot as it lacked the ice cream.

Situated on the famous East Marret and South Masi Street intersection, the Famous Jigarthanda shop attracts hundreds of customers every day and peaks further during summer. Their customers gave them the name ‘famous’ to identify their shop – it has stayed so ever since, and Meeran’s sons have made the proper use of it.

With five simple components, P. S. Sheikh Meeran and Sons have made the jigarthanda synonymous with the town’s name. There is no recorded history of this beverage; legends situate its origins in Mughal emperor Jehangir’s reign, all with too much contestation. Yet nobody knows jigarthanda better than perhaps the locals of Madurai.

People of Madurai have adopted this drink and made it their own popular-staple drink. The city is full of jigarthanda vendors, and there are minute differences in the variants available. But the name that stands out as the best is ‘Famous Jigarthanda – Since 1977’.

Famous Jigarthanda – From Tiny Pushcart to 200 Outlets

Today, P.S. Sheikh Meeran’s four sons have expanded the business into a chain of nine shops in Madurai and 35 regions across Tamil Nadu. S. Peer Mohammed, Sheikh Meeran’s eldest son, takes care of the Anna Nagar branch, while his next son, S. Zinda Madhar, is in charge of the shop on East Marret Street. The third in line – S. Shahul Hameed – takes care of the company godown. The youngest son Amanullah takes the shop’s name and fame beyond the city limits. He is in charge of the out-station orders.

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Ten people manage the leading shop that sells not less than 1,000 glasses of jigarthanda in a day between 10.30 am and 10.30 pm, with only one holiday — on Diwali — every year.

They regularly supply for weddings and other functions in Erode, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Chennai and Bangalore. Famous Jigarthanda has its head office in East Marret Street Madurai. It operates branch offices in Madurai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirupur, Ramanathapuram, Sivagangai, Tuticorin, Virudhanagar, Hosur, Dindugal, Vellore, Theni, Sivakasi, Tiruchy, Pudhukottai, Erode, Perambalur, Idukki, Namakkal, Thirumangalam and Bangalore. This legacy brand runs around 200 outlets.

Famous Jigarthanda sells two types of jigarthanda: the Ordinary and Special. The main ingredients that go into jigarthanda are milk, almond pisin, basundi, ice cubes and sherbet. The unique variety has more khoya than the ordinary one. The legacy brand makers prepare their own sherbet.

The drink that Famous Jigarthanda serves to its customers has condensed and chilled cow’s milk, nannari sherbet syrup, almond pisin, sugar syrup, cream, milk ice cream and basundi. This varies as per the customers’ orders. It is generally served in glass tumblers and is a body coolant, true to its name. It is perhaps this cooling nature of the drink that made Madurai embrace it as its own.

In 1988, Meeran diversified his products and began selling Jigarthanda at night. He saw the drink was broadly available in the area, so, at Rs 3, he kept the price per glass lower than other vendors. He also infused more basundi for a better taste in the drink. This simple yet innovative idea worked, and Meeran set up his first shop on the busy street of East Marret in 1993.

Fast forward to 2021, and the brand today has 200 franchises across Tamil Nadu with a daily footfall of around 300-500 customers per shop. At its main store in Madurai, 1,000 glasses of Jigarthanda are served every day. The current prices of the brand’s titular products are incredibly affordable, explaining the brand’s mass appeal and widespread success.

Starting with the Jigarthanda Ice Cream Small from Rs.15/- and Jigarthanda Cone Ice at Rs.20/-, the company prices its Jigarthanda Basundi at Rs.80/- and Jigarthanda Basundi Parsal at Rs.85/-. The Famous Jigarthanda Special is priced at Rs.60/-.

The sales of thousands of these products rope in profits for the brand. More importantly, it keeps the legacy of Sheik Meeran’s indigenously created beverage alive by serving it chilled to customers from all walks of life.

What makes Famous Jigarthanda so popular?

Jigarthanda is to food enthusiasts what the city’s famous Meenakshi temple is to devotees. Tourists from across the world, including celebrities and movie stars, have come to taste this chilled drink.

In the Famous Jigarthanda factory, chefs boil 100 litres of cow’s milk in multiple batches till it reduces to 40 litres and refrigerate it to make khoya. While most jigarthanda makers use kadal paasi, also known as china grass (or agar agar), this family run business (brand) use what the father-founder Sheik Meeran started to make the products stand out from the competition- the self-made khoya.

They soak the natural body-coolant badam pisin (almond resin) overnight, grind it and add it to the main drink in a particular measure. Home-made vanilla ice cream is another essential ingredient. The sweet nannari (sarsaparilla) syrup is made by boiling the roots and mixing it with sugar and basundi (sweetened thickened milk). All these are combined to make the thick shake that spells magic in the mouth.

Coming of Age with New Era Technology and Online Shift

As the company has turned itself into a legacy brand with deep roots in the South Indian region, it has not failed to realise the new era of technology driven changes and new models to expand its business. With a well-maintained website serving as its easy to access portfolio and information hub for lakhs of potential customers, it also gives online ordering services to its customers.

From letting people order desserts online to promising fast delivery of these sweets at their doorstep, the company has tapped into the large market of individual customers and the bulk ordering and large-scale event segment. It regularly supplies for weddings and other functions all over Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The door delivery service offered by Famous Jigarthanda is also available for events and bulk orders, with the threshold order quantity set at 100 plus items for local delivery and 300 plus for out-state delivery.

Famous Jigarthanda has become a renowned franchisor with years in the making, and it now has franchises all over Tamil Nadu, Bangalore and Kerala. The brand’s conduct in the market made its franchise expansion possible. As a franchisor, it provides the undertaking parties with a clear picture of the competition and helps them differentiate as entrepreneurs in the market.

This legacy brand’s entrepreneurial feels, greater confidence and a constant demand for its product have boosted its stature in the market and food ecosystem of South Indian circles. More recently, the company has been involved in exporting its food and beverage items. It now undertakes export orders of Jigarthanda to countries like Malaysia, Dubai and Singapore.

Though the next generation of Sheik Meeran’s family has moved out of the business and has gone into academics, the family hopes they will lend their professional knowledge to expand the business further. Undoubtedly, the famous Jigarthanda is the signature drink of Madurai, and the Famous Jigarthanda shop is a not-to-be-missed destination for visiting tourists. In its making of the legacy brand, this once local beverage company has set new highs for other small businesses and local entrepreneurs to strive for more and succeed even in the age of the tech-based business ecosystem.

The post Jigarthanda, the Drink from Madurai appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

Current Trends of the $53 Billion Vernacular Content Market of India

Aakash Sharma — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 10:30:08 +0000

In the age of data and the Internet, content consumption has increased exponentially. As internet connection has become more accessible and more convenient, the wave of ‘Digital India’ has found its way into tier 2 and 3 Indian markets, leading the digital revolution.

According to an ICUBEᵀᴹ 2020 report, there are over 264 million internet users in rural India, more than urban India’s 210 million. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures for its containment accelerated internet penetration in the country and with it came the golden moment for India’s e-commerce, digital entertainment and edtech industries.

As the number of internet users in India is expected to surpass 700 million shortly, it is worth noting that digital content and video consumption in rural India has increased twice as fast as urban India over the past four years. However, the country currently has only 40% internet access, meaning that there is a great potential to add new users in the years to come.

Vernacular Content and Rural India’s Fortunate Meeting

In general, the growing vernacular internet users have outnumbered the English language users. As significant customer groups in non-urban areas prepare to participate in digital media, regional ambitions are shaping businesses’ development strategies.

Data shows that 53% of non-metro internet users prefer local content on social media. In addition, 73% of Internet users access social media content daily, and 9 out of 10 users mainly use mobile networks to access the Internet.

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India is a vastly diverse country with over 121 languages and more than 19,500 dialects used by over 130 crore Indians. As per estimates by experts, the market opportunity of the vernacular content in India is worth $53 billion in 2021.

Vernacular Content Transforming the Digital Space

The key categories that the vernacular-driven digitisation will transform are:

Digital Entertainment and News
Social Media Platforms
E-commerce
Online Payments
Government Services

These are the segments where provincial and rural internet users have higher engagement rates than metropolitan users. Government services, banks and payment apps were among the first to assert the roll-out of vernacular products necessary for their rural users’ economic inclusion.

E-commerce meets Vernacular Content

As more people are gaining access to opportunities and their incomes are growing, the potential for e-commerce in rural India is also increasing. Users want end-to-end support from choosing products to service delivery in a vernacular medium. If companies can give local language services, they can overcome language barriers and more people will use their online methods.

Social E-commerce

Social e-commerce has emerged as the most promising business model over the last year. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have taken advantage of this in entirely innovative ways. For example, Facebook recently opened its Facebook Shops, allowing businesses to sell products directly from the platform. WhatsApp has also significantly improved its game this year, allowing users to communicate in various regional Indian languages. It also added a payment system in 10 local languages.

Voice Commerce

As per Google, more than 20% of searches in India are voice-driven, and voice searches, on average, are increasing by 270% every year. A fundamental cause for this growth is that voice commands are faster than typing. In addition, the advent of cheap smartphones has further increased the use of audio functions and voice commerce.

Video Commerce

Social media platforms such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, among others, account for about 90% of total video consumption in local languages. These platforms have significantly increased the use of short videos and marketing content on social media. Video commerce, or ‘shoppable videos’, have gained popularity on platforms like Instagram and Facebook in India.

Flipkart – Taking on the Vernacular Challenge

Flipkart has reported 15 million daily users connecting through their vernacular interface within a year of launching in Hindi, and their customer retention is at a surprising 95 per cent.

Jiny UI Platform is easing transactions with local languages

Assistive UI Platform Jiny has reported an increase of 20 per cent conversions by providing vernacular audio/text support while transacting. Currently, 35% of Indian language users go online for digital payments, and the company has great hopes in the segment.

Pepper Content – Treating Content like a King

This entirely content-based start-up is catering to vernacular content needs by using its self-established network of content writers who cater to the content services in numerous languages.

Conclusively, the preference for regional vernacular languages on social media is higher in non-metro cities when compared to metro cities. Since most of the population lives in non-metro regions, the scope of regional languages has grown substantially. Consequently, the estimates and market opportunities for start-ups in the vernacular content are pegged to be very high.

India’s $53 billion vernacular content market in 2021 is primarily driven by the vast rural population and diverse demographic needs. With about $708 million already invested in regional language start-ups between 2014 and Q3 2019, ample opportunities lie ahead for budding entrepreneurs and new start-ups.

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