ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Indian-American CEO praises India’s instant delivery apps
Returning to India after five years, she said Amazon Prime’s two-day delivery “feels ancient compared to India’s 10-minute reality.”
-
Malvika Choudhary - Sat, 29, Nov 2025
- 12:22 EST
- 12
Indian-American tech executive Varuni Sarwal in a wedding / X (@sarwal_varuni)
Indian-American tech executive Varuni Sarwal sparked wide discussion online after contrasting India’s quick-commerce ecosystem with e-commerce delivery standards in the United States.
Her post has garnered 111.8K views, prompting debate on what counts as “real” innovation in consumer technology.
Also Read: Nalin Haley slams Ramaswamy’s education plan as ‘third-world’
Sarwal, CEO of TriFetch.ai and a former Amazon researcher with a PhD in computer science from UCLA, wrote that while “San Francisco has self-driving cars,” India today has “10-minute everything.”
Returning to India after five years, she said Amazon Prime’s two-day delivery “feels ancient compared to India’s 10-minute reality.”
San Francisco has self-driving cars. India has 10-minute everything. I’m not sure which is more impressive.
— Varuni Sarwal @ RSNA, NeurIPS (@sarwal_varuni) November 27, 2025
I moved to the US 5 years ago. Coming back, Amazon Prime's "2-Day Delivery" feels ancient compared to India's 10-minute reality.@rosemary0680 and I were in Ranchi for a… pic.twitter.com/TfcoUSfRkV
Recalling a recent trip to Ranchi for a wedding, she described forgetting haldi outfits with her companion. “In the US, this would be a panic drive to the mall. In India, we opened Blinkit. 15 mins later, 2 full outfits arrived at the hotel,” she wrote, adding that they had chosen a men’s kurta and a lungi “optimized for speed, not gender accuracy.”
Sarwal’s comparison comes as India’s quick-commerce sector — driven by Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart — continues rapid expansion.
Blinkit, originally launched in 2013 as Grofers with 90-minute delivery, now promises near-instant delivery in many cities and operates across more than 150 locations. Industry data shows that quick-commerce platforms fulfilled nearly two-thirds of all urban e-grocery orders in 2024, underscoring their role as a dominant retail channel.
The growth has, however, highlighted concerns around delivery-partner workloads. Studies and reporting indicate that riders often work 14–15-hour days under pressure to meet strict timers, raising questions about safety and labor conditions even as consumer demand for speed increases.
Sarwal’s post drew a range of reactions. One user suggested that while logistics may be efficient, cultural context still cannot be delivered in minutes, noting that her “men’s lungi” appeared more like a formal dhoti or veshti.
Another commenter argued that self-driving cars represented a deeper technological breakthrough, saying that “any B2B or B2C SaaS feels like stamp collecting in comparison.”
A third wrote that parts of the southern hemisphere are “leaps and bounds ahead of the West,” citing mobile-money adoption alongside logistics.
Related
.png)
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
E Paper
Video
Comments
Start the conversation
Become a member of New India Abroad to start commenting.
Sign Up Now
Already have an account? Login