Latest news with #Jithendra
New Indian Express
28-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
A novelty makeover
Tracing the roots This move to relaunch was made because the previous property belonged to the government. Jithendra shares, 'The building is a hundred year old, belonging to a temple. Before us, there was a provision store. Then in the 1950s, my father took over and started a tea stall there.' On May 16, 1958, Jithendra's father, Chandrakanth Moolchand Shah, started a tea stall in a 200 space. 'In those days, many North Indians came in from different parts of the country to the city in search of work. They used to get down at Central and walk to the nearby areas. My father used to sell them tea,' he recalls. The regular tea costed 10 paisa, diamond tea (tea with more milk) was sold at 25 paisa and tea from pure buffalo milk with no added water was 50 paisa. The Shah business started making profits and soared in 1975. Hence, Chandrakanth rented another 200 space and expanded the business to sell snacks. This also included pav bhaji — for which food lovers from far off places, from Tambaram to Tondiarpet, took a trip to Sowcarpet. Now, the same customers and their families drive down to Shenoy Nagar. In 1979-80, Chandrakanth hired staff members and expanded to 400 more and converted the tea stall into a restaurant. 'At that time, pav bhaji was `2 and 50 paisa. An extra pav was priced at 10 paise,' adds Jithendra. Customers were often enticed by the sights of pani puri packets stacked upon one another, the strong aroma of coffee, and the warmth of dim yellow lights. This was also the time when Jithendra and his siblings joined the family business. In view of expansion, they opened and shut a number of restaurants in the city from 1976 — in Purasawalkam, Cathedral Road, and Egmore. 'We closed them for various reasons — unable to match the cost cutting with imposition of GST, the owner wanting the space back, and sometimes because of family,' expresses Jithendra. But the seed of expansion was still germinating in his head and last year, Mahindra Jain, Ragupathy, and Vardharajan approached Jithendra for a partnership. 'The work started seven months ago. I am the franchise partner and the others are working partners,' he adds.
The Hindu
25-04-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Women entrepreneurs showcase biodegradable innovations at DRDA workshop
'I produce biodegradable products and am making efforts to avoid plastic,' said Ch. Jithendria, who runs Akruthi Bio Green company. Ms. Jithendra has trained many women to create biodegradable plates, spoons, glasses, bags, decorative items, wallets, packing material and other products. She urges women to join her in her efforts to prevent environment and water pollution. D. Vijaya Durga, another woman entrepreneur, who runs Sree Sahasra Industries, highlights the potential of using sugarcane waster and paper pulp. She said: 'One can make jute bags, plates, drinking water glasses and many other items.' The 'One Family-One Entrepreneur' workshop organised by the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) on Friday, saw many women entrepreneurs from the two Telugu states — Andhra Pradesh and Telangana participate. The women showcased juts bags, wall curtains, pen stands, spoons, saucers, cups and various items made of biodegradable waste. Millet-based snacks were on display at the workshop. Keerthana, from 9 Nutz said: 'There is a high demand for millet-based foods such as sweets, snacks, chocolates, chikkies, flours, cookies, chips and other food items. We prepare millet laddu, raagi laddu, and dry fruit chocolates.' Collector G. Lakshmisha, along with DRDA Project Director A.N.U. Nanchara Rao and Project Officer Venkata Narayana, interacted with the women entrepreneurs, inspected the eco-friendly products and tasted the millet-based foods. The Collector praised the women for imparting training to many women groups and assured them support from the government in the form of loans, training and providing market linkages for their products. In NTR district, there are about 4.5 lakh Self Help Group (SHG), the Collector asked the women groups to set up self-employment projects.
