SUMMARY
Ecommerce companies can deliver non-essential products in orange and green zones from May 4
Ola has confirmed that it is planning to resume services in select cities
To get revenue going, Club Factory has started grocery delivery service
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On day 39 of the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi started holding meetings with key union ministers to formalise the second stimulus package to revive the economy.
In upcoming meetings, Modi along with ministers, including home minister Amit Shah, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the MSME ministry, is expected to discuss relief packages for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
In the third phase of the lockdown, the government has ecommerce to deliver non-essential products in orange and green zones from May 4. With this, ecommerce players have started to prepare for the rollback of their operations in these zones.
Amazon, Snapdeal Plan Ecommerce Rollback
In separate emails, Amazon and Snapdeal elaborated that the relaxations would enable lakhs of sellers and micro, medium and small enterprises (MSME) to jumpstart their businesses and livelihoods.
Meanwhile, Snapdeal confirmed that it will start shipping essentials and non-essentials as per government guidelines. It added that the company will also start delivering orders which were placed before the lockdown in the orange and green zones.
Ola Set To Hit Roads
Besides ecommerce, the government also allowed the rollback of cab aggregators in orange and green zones. After the order,cab-hailing major Ola confirmed that it is planning to resume services in the selected cities.
Cab hailing services like Ola and Uber had halted their operation since March 24, the first day of lockdown. However, these companies were offering their services to grocery delivery services while providing essential emergency services to healthcare facilities.
Meanwhile, Gurugram-based cab aggregator ORO Cabs has started a new initiative ‘“A Meal a Day for Cab Drivers’ to ensure that driver-partners in the red zone receive their daily meals. The company is aiming to provide groceries to around 10K drivers in the next 15 days.
Club Factory Joins Grocery Club
China-based ecommerce major Club Factory has become the latest entrant to the burgeoning grocery delivery segment in India as it looks to overcome the loss of revenue due to the lockdown.
Currently, most of the products are available for delivery, but the Club Factory app says that the company will take approximately eight to 12 days to deliver groceries. With this, the company has now joined the likes of Zomato, Swiggy, Shopclues and Meesho which have also recently forayed into the delivery of groceries.
Meanwhile, the centre for cellular and molecular platforms (C-CAMP), an organisation under the science and technology ministry, announced a grant of INR 1 Cr for startups working with it now. Three startups — CoSara Diagnostics, Huwel Life Sciences and DNAXperts — are working with C-CAMP to complete regulatory processes while scaling up capacities.
Moreover, healthtech startup Healthians has launched a new Covid-19 screening test for corporate clients. Using the service, clients can ensure that their employees are not having any symptoms of Covid-19 as they are set to return to offices in orange and green zones.
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