Food search and delivery service provider Zomato has announced a new parental leave policy that allows 26 weeks paid leave both for its male and female employees, one of the rare Indian companies to introduce a policy that endorses the importance of family time.

This policy also applies to non-birthing parents, and in cases of surrogacy, adoption, and same-sex partners.

The policy was announced in the blog posted by founder Deepinder Goyal.

"We have also always taken pride in building a culture of meritocracy – something which starts failing when it comes to equality between men and women at the workplace. This happens for various reasons – societal norms, precedents, and sometimes, even government policies," Goyal wrote.

Goyal wrote that his company has been lucky to attract and nurture some of the strongest female leaders that he has ever met, but it has been incredibly hard to find women leaders out there at senior levels.

"A lot of that imbalance at the top stems from an unequal leave policy for men and women when they welcome their children to this world," he wrote, adding that young parents should be able to make a choice of how to care for their children.

The policy changes are applicable to even those employees who have had a child within the last six months, according to Goyal.