Indian Village Changes Its Name to SnapDeal.com Nagar

Published by pratyushkp on June 20th, 2011 - in Social

A village in northern India has changed its name from that of a god to SnapDeal.com Nagar. The tiny town had good reason to, because SnapDeal, India’s version of Groupon, provided it with fresh water.

SnapDeal’s founder Kunal Bahl wanted to do something good with his company’s burgeoning profits, so like Bill Gates and his philanthropic efforts, the 28-year-old CEO looked for an opportunity where he could have the most bang for the buck.

His answer? Water. He found out that a mere $5,000 would install 15 hand pumps that would make it so the villagers wouldn’t have to walk nearly two miles just to get clean water. The result was life-changing, Bahl told CNN.

The villagers were so grateful for the SnapDeal.com-branded pumps distributed throughout the city, they decided to change the name of their village, formerly known as Shiv Nagar (named after the Hindu god Shiva), to SnapDeal.com Nagar.

Kunal Bahl hints at more such philanthropy in the works by his bustling New Delhi-based business, the largest daily deal retailer in India, according to the SnapDeal.com blog. When asked if this was a marketing or PR gimmick, he replied,

“All we can say is that time will show our commitment to this project and even the things we do in the future. You need not be a multibillionaire company to make a change in society around you. This project was not about the power of money but the intent and efforts which our team took to give this dream alive. Even if one small company takes inspiration from this, we will feel our efforts have borne fruit.

Indian Village Changes Its Name to SnapDeal.com Nagar [PICS] (mashable.com)
SnapDeal.com helps out a small, and very thankful village. (cnn.com)
Village in India Renames Itself Snapdeal.com (adweek.com)
Indian Village Renamed Snapdeal.com. And It’s Not A Cheap Marketing Stunt! (techcrunch.com)
Unexpected Branding Initiatives – SnapDeal Village Conveys the Unintended Consequence of Doing Good (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)
Snapdeal adopts village in Uttar Pradesh and residents renames village to Snapdeal.com (bellwort.wordpress.com)