BENGALURU: Nandan Nilekani may relish his biryani but the Infosys co-founder and chairman is in no hurry to venture into the food industry. “It is hyper-competitive, and it will be too painful to start this business,” he told CE after he released the report.“Any industry which creates 7 million jobs must be respected. People living here travel all over the world, know about different cuisines, and have a nuanced taste,” Nilekani said. “Technology and food are growing in the city.
The food services sector is hyper-competitive. I live in Koramangala and see new restaurants popping up every now and then. The formalisation of this industry is inevitable because of GST and digital payments,” he said, adding that aggregators that deliver food and restaurants are “frenemies”. Nilekani believes that delivery cost and commission will be a major issue.
“There will be a massive fluctuation in demand when trying to serve food to those dining in, and the delivery partners who want the food ready in two minutes. The good news is, we will also see more aggregators when it comes to groceries, vegetables, etc,” he said.
Advising the industry to embrace technology and also create a certified skill programme for people joining the industry each year, he also recommended that NRAI present the solution of a common interface to the central government, which can be used by the state governments.“At present, a restaurant has to deal with multiple departments, for income tax, GST, registrations, licences, etc. The platform must have all these clearances and permissions on one platform with a link to GST,” he added.