Swiggy takes Instamart to 43 cities ahead of festive season

Public markets-bound Swiggy’s quick commerce business, Instamart, has expanded its reach to 43 cities, up from 27 at the end of March, to meet growing consumer demand during the festive season.

Over the past two months, the platform has launched operations in 10 new cities, including Thrissur, Mangalore, Kanpur, Udaipur, Warangal, Salem, Amritsar, Bhopal, Varanasi and Ludhiana.

While the densification of Swiggy Instamart’s store network in key metros and larger cities remains the dominant axis of expansion, these new markets are the flag-bearers of tomorrow’s growth, Instamart said in a statement on Tuesday.


In addition to its expanding reach through new stores, Instamart is also enhancing its offerings by partnering with local brands and vendors, ensuring customers have access to products that reflect regional preferences.

“The enthusiastic demand from smaller towns and cities has been incredibly encouraging. Our expansion into these new locations marks a significant milestone, allowing even more people to experience the ease of having thousands of products—from everyday essentials to electronics and toys—delivered in just 10 minutes from both national and local brands,” said Amitesh Jha, chief executive officer of Swiggy Instamart.

Instamart plans to further expand its service to more cities, particularly in tier 2 and 3 markets. To support this growth, it will also expand its dark store network across existing and new cities.

In FY24, Instamart reported a 58% increase in gross order value (GOV) to Rs 8,100 crore, or nearly $1 billion.

Swiggy has raised the size of its initial public offering (IPO) by increasing the capital through a fresh issue of shares. The IPO will now issue fresh shares worth Rs 5,000 crore, up from the previously announced Rs 3,750 crore.

Meanwhile, competitors such as Zomato-owned Blinkit and Zepto are also expanding their operations. Blinkit, which had 639 dark stores as of end-June, aims to increase this number to 1,000 by FY25. Similarly, Zepto plans to grow its dark store count from 400 to over 700.

As quick commerce players face increasing costs and challenges in setting up dark stores and micro warehouses in major cities, they are finding it more feasible to enter smaller markets.

Larger ecommerce players like Walmart-owned Flipkart and Amazon are also entering the quick commerce space with new services.

Flipkart launched its fast delivery service, Minutes, in select areas in Bengaluru last month, while Amazon is expected to launch its quick commerce offering in India in the first quarter of next year, as reported by ET on August 28. Amazon India is also exploring the possibility of acquiring a stake in the ongoing pre-IPO placement or considering a buyout proposal for Instamart.