Manoj Mahto, a rickshaw puller in Gurgaon’s Dhanwapur area, spends ?30 for his lunch every day. That fetches him hygienically prepared dal, chapattis, rice and vegetables along with some salad. For dinner, he opts for the ?20 plate, which has five chapattis, a vegetable, salad and chutney. Under ?50 a day, this migrant worker from Bihar has two square meals a day, minus the risk of falling ill from consuming unhygienic dhaba food.

For Ranjit Galsinh, a 35-year-old private security guard, it is the freshness of vegetables and affordable pricing that draw him to the Sikanderpur outlet of Janta Meals every day. The low-priced food seller is popular with schools, NGOs, factory sites, cafeterias, and small and medium enterprises in Gurgaon.

In a market saturated with quick-service restaurants and high-end dining options alike, a Dutch entrepreneur sensed an opportunity in providing quality food to low-income groups in Indian cities. And going by the number of plates Janta Meals sells every day — 9,000 — it might well be on way to becoming India’s first food chain for the urban poor............Read more

Source web page: The Hindu