Two young men of Jamshedpur have floated a business idea that they hope will hook fish-loving city residents.

Saumitra Verma and Sujit Kumar, both 34, could have held normal corporate jobs. Instead, they opened a fish store, Fresh Machli this July.

Saumitra, who is now doing his postgraduate diploma course from XLRI and has an MBA from Symbiosis in Pune, teamed up with Sujit, a BTech in electrical engineering from B> T-Mesra in 2005, for this start-up venture. Guiding them is XLRI professor Prabal Sen, who chairs the entrepreneurship development centre of XLRI.

What Saumitra and Sujit are trying doing is overhauling the fish trade - which in the steel city is largely dependent on exports from other states, especially Andhra Pradesh and Bengal - by tying up with local fish farmers and involving technology.

By linking fish farmers in Chandil, Patamda and Ghaghidih, the duo promise fresh fish, instead of those buried under ice slabs to commute miles in trucks.

Their website, www.freshmachli.com, enables customers to log on and place orders. Saumitra and Sujit promise to deliver the fresh fish consignment within 24 hours.

"For now, retailers and wholesalers can order supplies of rohu, katla, mrigal and pangasius varieties, barring hilsa, and also shrimps. We deliver within 24 hours of the order at wholesale rates," Sujit said.

"As we have just started, we deliver fresh fish to retailers and wholesalers in bulk, starting from a 30kg consignment, in Jamshedpur, Adityapur, Chandil and Ghatshila. But, in six months, we will expand our logistics to deliver fresh fish to individual households at the click of a mouse," said Saumitra.

If retailers logging on a website to order fish sounds too hi-tech, the duo assure it is not so.

"The city is changing, it has big hotels, restaurants, clubs and catering agencies that need fresh and quality produce without hassles. Fish retailers are getting more aware. Technology is bridging gaps," Saumitra said.

The duo had carried out a survey in association with district fishery department earlier this year to find that out of daily consumption of 10 tonnes of fish in the steel city, only around 2 tonnes are supplied from local sources.

The bulk comes from Andhra Pradesh, followed by Bengal. "It takes at least three days for the fish to arrive from Andhra Pradesh to Jamshedpur. A city resident hardly gets fresh fish. That's why, we are roping in local fish farmers near the city. Anyone will be able to taste the difference," Saumitra said.

The duo have also teamed up with district fisheries department to start a hatchery in Karandih for the culture of ornamental fish for aquariums.

Eat fresh fish, eye pretty ones, eh?

Is it better for youths to launch innovative start-ups rather than get into the corporate grind? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com