In a country like India, it is imperative to ensure that nutrition-based welfare programmes, such as PM-POSHAN, reach as many beneficiaries as possible; centralised kitchens can play a pivotal role in achieving this goal.

Our centralised kitchens help us manage all the operations—receiving and storing raw materials to preparation and delivery of meals—from a single point of control. These semi-automated units have the capacity to undertake large scale feeding, typically up to 100,000 meals a day, whilst ensuring safe handling, preparation and delivery of the food. They have cost advantage as they enjoy a greater economy of scale-reductions in unit cost as the size of a facility and usage levels of systems and equipment increase. Their scale and operational efficiency help us play a crucial role in maximising the impact of PM-POSHAN and other feeding endeavours.

Centralised kitchens use large and specialised equipment, such as cauldrons, trolleys, rice chutes, etc., to prepare food in huge quantities, thus enabling the feeding of significantly more number of children than school kitchens. They help foster innovation in the context of technology as well as recipes. In 2002, for instance, we introduced the first roti-making machine in our kitchen catering to children in North India, where the menu is predominantly wheat-based. It had the capacity to dish out 10,000 rotis per hour. Today, we have machines that prepare over 50,000 rotis per hour.

The centralised approach on the accountability front because thousands of meals are prepared at one location with due adherence to safety and hygiene, and the whole process is monitored with due diligence. Furthermore, the approach can reduce the burden on teachers overburdened by the pressure of managing mid-day meals besides executing teaching and other administrative duties.

We have centralised kitchens in 64 locations across 14 states and two union territories. In two locations, we have adopted the decentralised approach.