India: Food delivery firms Swiggy, Zomato step up focus on small towns

Four months ago, it was a homecoming of sorts for 25-year-old Ankush Mohanrao. For over a year, he had been working as a trainee engineer at a manufacturing company in Pune, some 500 kilometres (km) away from Amravati, his hometown in Maharashtra. Bored out of his wits with the nine-to-five routine, he resigned in February and returned home, but with another job at hand. Thanks to Swiggy’s entry into Amravati, Mohanrao is now a delivery executive. Being able to make more money, along with the privilege of staying with his family, the decision to be a delivery partner at Swiggy was a no-brainer.