MP Home Minister raises road safety concerns, asks Zomato to change 10-minute delivery plan
Bhopal(PTI): Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra has said that food delivery company Zomato's new feature promising delivery of food within 10 minutes is akin to jeopardising the life of delivery persons and people on roads and asked the company to change the quick delivery plans.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mishra said that Zomato will not be allowed to violate traffic rules and the company will be held responsible for the violation of traffic rules and accidents that occur during the instant delivery process.
"Zomato's plan of delivering food in 10 minutes is like playing with the lives of its employees (delivery partners) as well as the lives of other people. Let alone Zomato, no one will be allowed to violate traffic rules in Madhya Pradesh. I am exhorting Zomato to change these plans, Mishra said.
He said food delivery persons can reach the destination within 10 minutes only by "driving rashly and dangerously".
"The company will be responsible for any mishap and rules' violation," the home minister added.
Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal had on Monday announced the company's plans to start a pilot of 'Zomato Instant' with four stations in Gurugram from April.
Amid criticism of the new feature, the online food delivery platform on Tuesday clarified that there are no penalties for late deliveries and no incentives for on-time deliveries for both 10-minute and 30-minute deliveries.
The 10-minute delivery will be for specific nearby locations, the popular and standardised menu only, Goyal had said in a series of tweets.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge met a high-level delegation from Chile, led by Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to discuss collaboration in emerging technologies, clean energy, and startup ecosystems, officials said.
The delegation’s visit to Bengaluru, as part of its India engagements, underscores Karnataka’s growing prominence as a preferred partner for global collaborations in technology, innovation, and startup ecosystems, officials added.
The discussions reflected strong alignment between Chile’s evolving technology-focused growth strategy and Karnataka’s established leadership in innovation and deep-tech ecosystems, according to a statement.
Both sides explored opportunities to build partnerships that move beyond traditional sectors and focus on innovation-led growth, talent exchange, and market access.
The meeting focused on opportunities in renewable energy, including green hydrogen and sustainable industrial innovation.
Other potential areas of collaboration included marine biotechnology, aquaculture technologies, and AI applications across traditional industries.
According to the state IT minister, Karnataka is now a global hub for deep-tech, AI, biotech, aerospace, and advanced research, backed by one of the world’s strongest talent pipelines.
“As partners under the global innovation alliance, we must move beyond agreements on paper to actionable collaboration,” Kharge said.
“We are keen to work with Chile on startup exchanges, market access programmes, and building joint innovation corridors, including R&D centres, incubators, and accelerators. Chile’s position as a gateway to Latin America presents a significant opportunity for our startups to scale globally,” he added.
Officials said the engagement builds on the Letter of Intent signed between the Government of Karnataka and the Government of Chile during the Bengaluru Tech Summit, which established a framework for collaboration in startups, emerging technologies, research, and skill development under the Global Innovation Alliance.
Mackenna, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the country is actively advancing its transition toward a knowledge- and technology-driven economy.
“Our engagement with Karnataka reflects our interest in building strong innovation partnerships that enable technology exchange, talent collaboration, and access to dynamic startup ecosystems,” he added.
“We see significant potential to work together in sectors such as clean energy, digital technologies, and emerging industries, while also strengthening Chile’s role as a bridge between India and Latin America,” he said.
