Chandigarh gets north India’s first Pizza ATM that makes one in 3 mins

Chandigarh: The Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) has installed the ‘Pizza ATM’ in Sukhna Lake in the Union Territory. This is north India’s first Pizza machine, which can prepare pizzas in just three minutes.

Speaking about the installation of the machine, CITCO official said to Indian Express that the pizza vending machine, the first-of-its-kind in north India and currently the only functional one in the country, was installed sometime last month. Before this, the machine was installed in a railway station in Mumbai.

The maker of these machine iMatrix World Wide claimed that the company got the ncept of the Pizza ATM from France. iMatrix World Wide had introduced a similar machine at a railway station in Mumbai but after Covid, however, as the response tapered, the company had to shut down the kiosk.

Meanwhile, on the installation of pizza vending machine at Sukhna Lake, the licensee, Dr Rohit Sharma said, “The vending machine, on an average, is currently preparing around 100 pizzas a day. During the weekends, the number goes up to anything between 200-300.”

“The prices of our ATM pizzas are about 35 per cent less than that of Domino’s and Pizza Hut. Like a medium paneer tikka pizza is just about Rs 340 while the same in Domino’s is Rs 560,” he further said.

“Once a person enters the kind of pizza he would like to have, a robotic arm picks up the pizza base with the requisite topping, bakes it and serves it in just three minutes. At any given point of time, the machine can prepare up to seven pizza bases with toppings,” he added.

Following the installation of the vending machine, CITCO officials have claimed that Sukhna Lake of Chandigarh is experiencing quite a rush of tourists, and a considerable demand for snacks of various cuisines, the pizza vending machine was allowed to be installed near the lake.

“The maintenance or repair of the machine is also the sole responsibility of the licensee. So much so, the licensee has also been asked to install lighting, music system and digital display system for convenience of customers at the space meant for the pizza kiosk,” the CITCO said.