Mumbai’s 2026 Modak Mahotsav will offer steamed and fried modaks made by women’s self-help groups after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Food and Drug Administration conducted food-safety training for participating groups ahead of Ganeshotsav.
The initiative is being organised under the BMC’s Planning Department, with guidance from its Women and Child Welfare Department. It aims to provide residents with modaks for Ganesh festival offerings while creating an income opportunity for women associated with municipal self-help groups.
The training focused on hygiene during preparation, food handling, the quality of raw materials and packaging practices. The workshop was conducted jointly by the municipal corporation and the Food and Drug Administration. According to the report, the participating groups began preparing modaks in accordance with the food-safety guidance provided during the programme.
The BMC initiative will include both ukadiche modak, made from steamed rice-flour dough, and fried modaks. Residents can register their orders online through shgeshop.com. The programme is being implemented under the guidance of Meenal Turde, chairperson of the BMC Women and Child Welfare Committee.
The municipal corporation said the festival responds to a familiar seasonal demand in Mumbai. Many households prepare modaks as an offering during Ganeshotsav, but working schedules can make it difficult for residents to produce them at home. The programme is therefore intended to combine access to a traditional festive food with employment support for women’s groups.
The food-safety component gives the programme an additional administrative dimension. Rather than limiting the initiative to the sale of festival food, the BMC and the Food and Drug Administration have sought to establish basic controls covering cleanliness, ingredient quality, handling and packaging before products reach consumers. The supplied report does not specify the number of participating groups, production capacity, prices, delivery arrangements or the locations from which orders will be fulfilled.
The Modak Mahotsav is part of the BMC’s continuing efforts to connect women’s self-help groups with income-generating activities. In this case, the civic body is using a seasonal citywide festival and an online ordering channel to link group-produced food with household demand.
Online registration for modaks is available through shgeshop.com, while participating women’s self-help groups are expected to continue production under the food-safety practices outlined during the joint workshop.
