ETERNAL

Adds more details from the CNBC-Awaaz report

Aug 6 (Reuters) - China's Alibaba Group is likely to exit India's Eternal ETEA.NS in a block deal valued at 53.75 billion rupees ($613 million), CNBC-Awaaz reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

Alibaba's unit Antfin Singapore, which had a 2.08% stake in Eternal as of June-end, will offload all of it at a floor price of 285 rupees, the report said.

That implies a 4.6% discount to Eternal's closing price on Wednesday.

Antfin and Eternal, which houses food delivery business Zomato and quick commerce arm Blinkit, did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

($1 = 87.6900 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Anuran Sadhu and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Shilpi Majumdar)

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** Shares of Eternal ETEA.NS jump 21% this week, set for best weekly gain on record

** ETEA top weekly gainer on benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI

** Stock also set to log first weekly gain in four

** Gains driven by Zomato and quick commerce platform Blinkit parent's robust Q1 revenue, which boosted hopes for continued growth in quick-commerce business

** Rival Instamart parent Swiggy SWIG.NS also up 5.4% this week, set for its third straight weekly gain; also top weekly gainer on Nifty Next 50 .NN50

** Avg rating on ETEA and SWIG at "buy" - LSEG data

** YTD, ETEA up 12% vs SWIG's 24% decline

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

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July 23 (Reuters) - Foreign companies operating in India's booming e-commerce sector face many regulatory and legal challenges from authorities investigating them for alleged non-compliance with Indian laws, moves largely aimed at protecting local businesses.

Below are some of the ongoing regulatory cases, which include global giants Amazon AMZN.O and Walmart WMT.N:

** Walmart's Indian fashion arm Myntra is being investigated for allegedly breaching rules that ban foreign-funded wholesale retailers from selling directly to consumers, India's federal crime fighting agency revealed on July 23, 2025.

** An Indian antitrust investigation in 2024 found Amazon and Flipkart, violated local competition laws by giving preference to select sellers on their shopping websites. The companies deny any wrongdoing.

** Samsung, Xiaomi and other smartphone companies also colluded with Amazon and Flipkart to exclusively launch products on their Indian websites in breach of antitrust laws, the investigation found last year.

** India's financial crime agency has been investigating Amazon and Flipkart separately for alleged breaches of investment rules. In 2024, it raided offices of some sellers operating on Amazon and Flipkart.

** The federal financial crime fighting agency has also privately sought sales data and other documents from smartphone players including Apple and Xiaomi as part of an investigation into Amazon and Flipkart.

** India's state-run product certification agency raided the Delhi warehouses of Amazon and Flipkart in March, seizing items that did not meet quality control standards, as it increased its scrutiny of the two firms.

** India's financial crime agency has asked Flipkart and its founders to explain why they should not face a penalty of $1.35 billion for the alleged violation of foreign investment laws, three sources and an agency official told Reuters in 2021.

** Meanwhile, Indian consumer products distributors have filed an antitrust case against big fast-delivery businesses Zomato, SoftBank-backed Swiggy SWIG.NS and Zepto, calling for an investigation into alleged deep discounting practices.

** An investigation by India's antitrust body found Zomato and Swiggy breached competition laws, with their business practices favouring select restaurants listed on their platforms, documents showed.

(Reporting by Chandini Monnappa and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Rachna Uppal)

(([email protected]; https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandini-monnappa-8a37b013b/;))

Adds details, background from paragraph 2 onwards

July 22 (Reuters) - Indian online delivery firm Eternal ETEA.NS jumped nearly 15% on Tuesday after the parent of Zomato and Blinkit reported robust quarterly revenue, lifting expectations for continued growth in its quick-commerce business.

Blinkit, which promises everything from salt to iPhones in under 10 minutes, is widely seen as the front-runner by analysts despite growing pressure from players such as BigBasket, Flipkart, Swiggy SWIG.NS and Amazon AMZN.O.

"We overestimated the competitive threat," analysts at Jefferies said, citing the unit's growth, improved margins and expectations of higher growth in the future.

At least ten brokerages hiked price targets on the stock after results, while at least four upgraded ratings, data compiled by LSEG showed.

The median price target on the stock has risen to 311 rupees from 287.5 rupees a month ago, the data showed.

Shares of the company rose 14.6% to 311.25 rupees as of 9:42 a.m. IST and were the top gainer on benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which trading flat.

Shares of rival Swiggy were up 5.3% on the day.

Eternal's food delivery business, Zomato, is its profitable arm and has historically contributed the larger share of revenue, but Blinkit is closing the gap fast.

Analysts at Nuvama said Blinkit "outshines on growth", as Eternal's quick commerce business posted a 127% on-year rise in net order value at 92.03 billion rupees ($1.07 billion), surpassing growth at its food-delivery business for the first time.

($1 = 86.2270 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee)

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July 21 (Reuters) - Indian online delivery firm Eternal ETEA.NS posted a 90% drop in first-quarter profit on Monday, weighed by higher costs at its quick-commerce arm Blinkit, which delivers everything from groceries to electronics in under 10 minutes.

Consolidated net profit fell to 250 million rupees ($2.90 million) for the three months ended June 30, the food and grocery delivery firm said.

($1 = 86.2775 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sumana Nandy and Chandini Monnappa)

(([email protected];))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Refiles to include updated CNBC-TV18 report in context news.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, July 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Indian consumers are shaking a global giant awake. Last Thursday, Unilever ULVR.L named Priya Nair CEO of its local unit to replace Rohit Jawa, who will leave at the end of July after completing less than half of his term. The $150 billion maker of Dove soap is struggling to grow in its second-largest market. The new chief’s biggest task is refreshing the unit's stale business.

The management rejig, which fuelled a 5% surge in Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) HLL.NS shares on Friday, follows a change of guard at the London-headquartered group and years of weak performance at the Indian unit. Over the past two years, HUL's sales grew just 2%, far behind Nestle NEST.NS which managed 9%. This bleak performance is captured in the Mumbai-listed shares. HUL trades at 52 times the unit’s expected earnings for 2025, lagging Nestle India, which trades at 68 times.

There are multiple reasons for this yawning gap. To start, the owner of the Lakme beauty brand is failing to keep up with homegrown challengers like $7 billion Nykaa NYKA.NS and $1 billion Honasa Consumer’s HONA.NS Mamaearth, which offer more differentiated beauty products to the well-heeled and upwardly mobile Indian consumers. At the lower end of the market, private labels are finding favour with shoppers on a budget. HUL reacted to the trend with a new strategy involving a $311 million acquisition of skincare brand Minimalist in January, among other things, but it needs to do more. It could consider adding Temasek-backed fast-growing packaged snacks maker Haldiram's to complement its portfolio. Introducing global brands like Ben & Jerry's ice cream or Maille condiments would offer an easy refresh of its India shelves too.

A shifting market structure has pulled the rug from under the vaunted distribution model of the Brooke Bond tea maker. Urban Indians are increasingly ordering everything from milk to lipstick through apps like Blinkit, backed by $28 billion food delivery champion Eternal ETEA.NS, which offers 10-minute deliveries and a superior product selection. HUL is yet to update its supply chains to keep up with the speedy replenishment this channel demands. This is a problem given this end of the grocery market is growing 70% annually, per Bernstein.

Nair currently presides over Unilever’s beauty business and is an old India hand. That sets her up nicely to tackle the aforementioned issues. And if she manages to revitalise the business, it will also help the larger Unilever group, which owns 62% of the Indian unit. But given how far Unilever's Indian business is lagging, the cleanup will take time.

Follow Shritama Bose on Linkedin and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Unilever's Indian unit on July 10 said Priya Nair will take charge as its CEO on August 1. Nair currently serves as president of the London-headquartered company's beauty and wellbeing division.

She will take over from Rohit Jawa, who has held the top role at Hindustan Unilever since June 2023. Jawa will leave the group without completing his five-year tenure as CEO of the unit.

Hindustan Unilever's Mumbai-listed shares rose 5% on July 11, following the announcement.

The unit's chief financial officer, Ritesh Tiwari, is likely to step down from the function and be moved to a global role, CNBC-TV18 reported on July 11, citing unnamed sources. The report was later updated to remove the reference on his move to a global role.

(Editing by Aimee Donnellan; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]))

The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Ujjaini Dutta

BENGALURU, July 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India’s food delivery duopoly is brushing off the imminent entry of a low-fee champion. Shares of $28 billion Eternal ETEA.NS, formerly known as Zomato, and Swiggy SWIG.NS, have recovered since early June when Rapido’s intention to slash food delivery charges was reported by local media. But the industry is ripe for disruption.

Rapido, which began life as a bike taxi firm a decade ago, aims to nearly halve the duo's “take rates” - the percentage of the total transaction value the companies keep as revenue for facilitating orders and deliveries, usually commissions paid by restaurants or delivery charges by customers. Zomato and Swiggy's at 24.4% and 21.9% respectively are much higher than global peers, per HSBC, easily besting China’s Meituan's 3690.HK 16.1%.

To be sure, other mobility providers have tried and failed to muscle into food delivery. Rapido, though, has chipped away at Ola and Uber’s grip on ride-hailing by focusing on affordability. It has captured a majority share of the bike taxi market, 33% of three-wheelers, and near-20% of four-wheelers, according to Motilal Oswal, a brokerage. The company's latest fundraising round valued it at $1.1 billion and it is profitable on an EBITDA basis. Now it wants to utilise its 4 million rider network to deliver meals outside of peak travel hours.

Besides inviting new competition, India’s high take rates may explain why industry growth is slowing. Take Eternal. Food delivery is its biggest business, accounting for 38% of its top line. But the segment's gross order value grew just 16% year-on-year in the quarter ended March and 17% in the December quarter - missing the company's own guidance of 20%.

The company led by Deepinder Goyal charges an average take rate of about 24%, per Visible Alpha, enough to generate a profit per order. If Eternal adopts a similar rate as Meituan, its adjusted food delivery revenue would drop by about one-third, according to Breakingviews' calculations. That would make it harder for Eternal to support its other loss-making businesses, including quick commerce.

Swiggy may ultimately share in any success of Rapido if the upstart defies expectations. It owns about 13% of its wannabe rival and both share Dutch investor Prosus PRX.AS as a backer. For now, Rapido's entry was the subject of the first question Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety faced at Prosus’ Capital Markets Day late last month. A high-fee business model in a price-sensitive country will keep the market on edge.

Follow Ujjaini Dutta on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Ride-hailing startup Rapido is set to roll out a pilot of its food delivery service, Ownly, in Bengaluru this week, The Economic Times reported on July 2, citing people directly aware of the developments.

The firm is planning to charge restaurant commissions in the 8-15% range, the report added.

(Editing by Una Galani; Production by Aditya srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on DUTTA/[email protected]))

** Shares of Eternal ETEA.NS rise 1.6% while Swiggy SWIG.NS gains 4.3% on the day

** CLSA says ETEA and SWIG are among its top picks in the Indian consumer space

** CLSA has "high conviction outperform" on ETEA and "outperform" on SWIG

** Says ETEA's Blinkit continues to lead the pack in terms of weekly active users

** SWIG's standalone Instamart app also doing well with 8.6 million weekly active users, according to CLSA

** ETEA shares are down 10.7% in 2025 so far, while SWIG is down 32.5%, underperforming 3.5% rise in Nifty 100 index .NIFTY100, exchange data shows

(Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +91 9769003463;))

** Amazon's AMZN.O "Now" will need to scale up more to become a "meaningful player" in the Indian quick-commerce sector, according to Jefferies

** Brokerage says Amazon's venture is in its "early days" and although it does go fairly well beyond grocery and offers high discounts, it trails incumbents

** Quick-commerce has become mainstream, with some places seeing as many as six different platforms - Jefferies

** Keeping an eye on emerging rivals would be important for Zomato-parent Eternal ETEA.NS and Swiggy SWIG.NS too, Jefferies adds

** On Monday, ETEA up 0.8% to 251 rupees, SWIG gains 1.9% to 361 rupees

** Eternal's "Blinkit" and Swiggy's "Instamart" compete with IPO-bound Zepto, Walmart WMT.N-backed Flipkart's "Minutes" and Tata-owned BigBasket

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

(([email protected];))

The authors are Reuters Breakingviews columnists. The opinions expressed are their own. Refile to remove hyperlink in Context News.

By Shritama Bose, Ujjaini Dutta

MUMBAI/BENGALURU, June 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The hottest corner of India's e-commerce market is running on fumes. Nexus Venture Partners-backed Zepto, the money-losing startup that delivers everything from onions to speakers in 10 minutes, is deferring plans to go public by a year as it struggles to cut costs, news website Moneycontrol reported last week. Rival offerings from Eternal ETEA.NS, formerly Zomato, and Swiggy SWIG.NS are bleeding cash too. The sensible - and likely - next move for all three would be to stop offering ultra-quick deliveries at all.

The combination of densely populated cities like Mumbai and New Delhi plus abundant cheap labour made it look possible that India could pull off a delivery model that has failed elsewhere, and spawned an industry Bernstein estimates is worth $10 billion. As the top player in the space with a 43% share by monthly active users, Zepto looked like a winner. Its valuation nearly quadrupled to $5 billion in the 12 months to August 2024.

Almost a year on, the euphoria looks hard to sustain. Adjusted EBITDA losses at Swiggy's Instamart and Eternal's Blinkit widened in the first three months of this year due to an aggressive expansion of so-called dark stores that also act as mini-warehouses. More spending is underway: HSBC expects Zepto to increase its dark stores by 18% to 1,000. Competition is intensifying too: Tata group-backed BigBasket is entering the 10-minute food delivery space, going up against Blinkit's Bistro and Zepto's Cafe, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

It's not clear if and when 10-minute deliveries can turn a sustainable profit. At least Swiggy and Eternal have other businesses to cushion the blow. But for Zepto, which will struggle to replicate its model beyond big cities, the pressure to stem its losses is mounting. Founders Aadit Palicha and Kaivalya Vohra are eyeing the high-yield loan market and say the company will be close to breaking even on EBITDA and operating cash flow in three months.

Meanwhile, public market investors are pickier. Electric-scooter maker Ather Energy ATHR.NS and Brookfield-backed luxury hotel chain Schloss Bangalore SCHL.NS had weak trading debuts despite downsized offers. Investors' patience with unprofitable startups is running thin after Ola Electric Mobility's OLAE.NS disastrous run since its August listing. Shares of Eternal and Swiggy are down by up to a third this year, while the benchmark Nifty 50 Index .NSEI has risen.

All this should be enough to prompt a serious rethink of whether it's worth trying to deliver someone an onion, or anything else, in under 10 minutes.

Follow Shritama Bose on LinkedIn and X and Ujjaini Dutta on LinkedIn and X.

CONTEXT NEWS

Tata group-backed grocery delivery service BigBasket plans to launch 10-minute food delivery services by the end of March 2026, co-founder Vipul Parekh told Reuters on June 10.

Online quick commerce startup Zepto has pushed back its plan to go public in India by a year to 2026, news website Moneycontrol reported on June 4, citing unnamed people aware of the development.

(Editing by Robyn Mak; Production by Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the authors, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/[email protected]; DUTTA/[email protected]))

Corrects to add source in headline

June 9 (Reuters) - Rapido is entering the food delivery segment with a new platform that charges restaurants a fixed fee, a document seen by Reuters showed on Monday, as the Indian ride-hailing platform looks to compete with Swiggy SWIG.NS and Eternal's ETEA.NS Zomato.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Haripriya Suresh; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)

(([email protected]; +91 867-525-3569;))

** India's Eternal ETEA.NS climbs 2.7%, reversing from a 5.4% decline at the open

** Operator of Zomato food delivery and Blinkit quick commerce platforms posts 78% slump in Q4 profit and warns of intense competition

** But analysts say results were better than feared

** Jefferies says "Concerns were running high on Q4 in context of heightened competitive activity in quick commerce, but outcome" noting contained EBITDA loss, GOV growth

** Elara Securities says Blinkit has held market leadership and its losses are lesser than rivals Swiggy SWIG.NS Instamart and Zepto, "which seems to appeal investors"

** Nomura says Eternal is "well positioned to weather the competition"

** SWIG to report its quarterly results next week

** Avg rating on ETEA and SWIG at "buy", LSEG data

** ETEA drops 14.4% YTD vs SWIG's 42.5% slump

(Reporting by Kashish Tandon in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]))

Adds comments from earnings call in paragraphs 7,8

By Ananta Agarwal

May 1 (Reuters) - Indian online delivery player Eternal ETEA.NS reported a nearly 78% drop in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, as its fast-growing quick commerce arm Blinkit spent aggressively to open more stores and stave off intense competition.

Shares of Eternal, which officially changed its name from Zomato in March, had more than doubled in each of the last two years, partly fueled by optimism around Blinkit's success.

But competition in India's quick commerce space is intensifying. Blinkit accelerated store openings and offered discounts and subsidized delivery as it jostled for market share with smaller rivals, Swiggy's SWIG.NS Instamart and start-up Zepto.

Eternal said it sees the competition intensifying in the near term.

"The impact is visible in the lack of significant margin expansion that we would have otherwise expected," Blinkit CEO Albinder Dhindsa said in a call with analysts.

Quarterly revenue from Blinkit more than doubled year on year to 17.09 billion rupees. But adjusted core loss widened to 1.78 billion rupees from 370 million rupees last year, while its store count has more than doubled year on year to 1301 stores.

Eternal on Thursday also flagged likely competition from companies like Amazon AMZN.O and Walmart WMT.N backed Flipkart, where some delivery times have shortened to four to six hours. The two giants are also newer entrants in the quick commerce industry.

Meanwhile, growth in Eternal's food delivery platform, Zomato, has slowed down the past few months due to a "sluggish demand environment" and competition from quick commerce itself, which delivers packaged meals, Eternal said.

The company also said it is shutting down Zomato Quick, which delivered food from nearby restaurants with the speed of quick commerce, months after rolling the service out, citing "inconsistent customer experience".

Adjusted revenue for Zomato grew 17% year-on-year to 24.09 billion rupees, below Eternal's forecast of 20% growth.

Eternal reported a consolidated net profit of 390 million rupees ($4.6 million) in the March quarter, compared to 1.75 billion rupees last year.

($1 = 84.5880 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Ananta Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Leroy Leo)

(([email protected];))

April 18 (Reuters) - Eternal Ltd ETEA.NS:

• APPROVES CAP ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP UP TO 49.50%

Source text: ID:nBSE38R5YM

Further company coverage: ETEA.NS

(([email protected];))

** Shares of Eternal (formerly Zomato) ETEA.NS gain as much as 5.3% to a nearly one-month high of 233.85 rupees; last up 2.4%

** ETEA top percentage gainer on the benchmark Nifty 50 index .NSEI, which is up 1.8%

** About 1.4 million shares of the quick commerce firm changed hands in five block deals, data compiled by LSEG shows

** Block deals in price range of 225.10 rupees to 230.55 rupees, compared to last closing price of 222.08 rupees

** Stock up 2.3% so far this week; on track to log third straight week of gains

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru)

(([email protected]; +918447554364))

April 15 (Reuters) - Bharti Airtel Ltd BRTI.NS:

• AIRTEL PARTNERS WITH BLINKIT

• BLINKIT PARTNERSHIP FOR DELIVERY OF SIM CARDS TO ITS CUSTOMERS WITHIN TEN MINUTES

Further company coverage: BRTI.NSETEA.NS

(([email protected];))

By Praveen Paramasivam

April 4 (Reuters) - India's commerce minister said his country's startups needed to emulate China by focusing on high-end tech and not quick grocery deliveries or fancy ice cream - harsh criticism that had entrepreneurs quickly pointing out the government's shortcomings.

Piyush Goyal told a startup event in New Delhi late on Thursday that too many were offering food delivery so that "the rich can get their meals without moving out of their house" and were "turning unemployed youth into cheap labour."

"Are we going to be happy being delivery boys and girls? (Making) fancy ice cream and cookies ... is that the destiny of India?" he said, showing a slide titled "India vs. China. The Startup Reality Check".

He didn't name companies but his speech was seen as an apparent attack on quick commerce businesses like Zomato ZOMT.NS, Swiggy and Zepto that deliver food and groceries in as little as 10 minutes.

"What do the Chinese startups do? Work on developing electric mobility, battery technology ... look at what the other side is doing - robotics, automation, machine learning, preparing themselves for 3D manufacturing," Goyal said.

His comments prompted hundreds of posts on social media from startup founders and venture capitalists, taking the government to the task for failing to create high-quality infrastructure and jobs and not doing enough to support entrepreneurs.

"The government (needs) to actively support the creation of these local champions, not pull down the teams," Zepto co-founder Aadit Palicha retorted on X.

Swiggy and Zomato did not respond to requests for comment.

"Minister @PiyushGoyal should not belittle our startups but ask himself what has he done as our Minister to help deep tech start ups grow in India?," Mohandas Pai, chairman at venture fund Aarin Capital, wrote on X.

Indian startups raised $11.3 billion in venture capital funding in 2024, up 43% from last year.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Aditya Kalra and Edwina Gibbs)

(([email protected]; +91 867-525-3569;))

Corrects to say e-grocery, not e-retail, in headline and paragraph 1

March 27 (Reuters) - India's quick commerce sector accounted for over two-thirds of all e-grocery orders last year, with its total market share growing about five times to $6-7 billion from 2022, a report by consultancy firm Bain and e-commerce giant Flipkart showed.

The industry, which is dominated by the likes of Zomato-owned ZOMT.NS Blinkit, also accounted for a tenth of overall e-retail dollars spent in 2024, according to the report released on Wednesday.

These platforms deliver groceries to electronics within minutes, and its market share is expected to grow over 40% annually till 2030, driven by expansion across new categories, geographies and consumer segments, according to the report.

"The dramatic rise of quick commerce (i.e., delivery in less than 30 minutes) has been one of the most defining hallmarks of India's e-retail market over the last two years," according to the report, which stated that the sector had over 20 million annual online shoppers and employed over 400,000 people.

However, these platforms could face some immediate challenges in expanding profitability, as they may struggle to grow into markets beyond large cities and also face stiff competition from larger e-commerce players including Flipkart.

To sustain profitable growth, "companies must adapt their business models for markets beyond major metros, manage rising competition, and optimize supply chains", it said.

The report comes at a time when players such as Flipkart Minutes, Myntra's M-now, BigBasket's BB Now, and Amazon's Tez have forayed into the sector with their respective quick commerce platforms.

However, some industry experts expect this boom to be short lived.

Last month, a Blume Ventures' report said that the sector may struggle to maintain its current pace of growth.

TVS Capital Funds Chairman Gopal Srinivasan told Reuters in an interview that the quick-commerce frenzy is a "passing fad" and unsustainable in the long run.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Rashmi Aich)

(([email protected];))

** India's Eternal ZOMT.NS, earlier known as Zomato, and Jio Financial Services JIOF.NS to see net inflows of $591 million on entry in benchmark Nifty 50 .NSEI, says Nuvama

** ZOMT and JIOF to get $391 mln and $200 mln inflows, respectively, while replacements Britannia Industries BRIT.NS and Bharat Petroleum BPCL.NS to see net outflows of $153 mln and $145 mln, respectively

** Changes effective close of March 27; changes in key indexes affects positioning of passive funds

** Indian Hotels IHTL.NS to see $85 mln inflows on Nifty Next 50 .NN50 inclusion and Power Grid Corp of India PGRD.NS to see $49 mln inflows on CPSE index .NICPSE inclusion, as per Nuvama

** IHTL and PGRD up 1% and 1.4%, respectively, on the day, while JIOF flat and ZOMT falls 2%

(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M)

(([email protected];))

March 20 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• ZOMATO - MINISTRY OF CORPORATE AFFAIRS APPROVES CHANGE IN NAME OF CO TO ETERNAL

Source text: ID:nNSE9KpcyT

Further company coverage: ZOMT.NS

(([email protected];;))

By Praveen Paramasivam

CHENNAI, March 14 (Reuters) - India's southern state of Tamil Nadu will offer a subsidy of 20,000 rupees ($230) to select gig workers to buy e-scooters, a minister said on Friday, as more young people sign up with online platforms to deliver food and groceries.

Gig workers, or those outside traditional employer-employee relationships, are set to play a key role in the world's fifth-biggest economy, spurred partly by high unemployment after COVID-19 pandemic curbs fuelled growth in the sector.

Tamil Nadu is also introducing an insurance scheme for nearly 150,000 gig workers to compensate for accidental deaths and disability, its finance minister, Thangam Thenarasu, said while unveiling the budget.

"A new scheme will be launched .... to provide a subsidy of 20,000 rupees each to 2,000 internet-based service workers to buy a new e-scooter," the minister said, adding that workers registered with a state welfare body would be eligible.

Further details of the scheme will be revealed later, Labour Secretary Veera Raghava Rao told Reuters.

The prices of electric scooter maker Ola's products start at 79,999 rupees, while those of rival Ather sell from 99,999 rupees.

The state will also set up lounges for the use of such workers in large cities, such as Chennai, its capital - where summer temperatures often exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees F) - and Coimbatore, a textile hub.

The head of the Tamil Nadu Food and Allied Products Delivery Workers Union, K.C. Gopikumar, welcomed the subsidy and welfare efforts but urged the government to extend them to more workers as well as give them better conditions, such as paid leave.

Swiggy and Zomato, two of India's biggest delivery providers, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

($1=86.9080 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

(([email protected]; +91 867-525-3569;))

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, March 6 (Reuters) - Indian consumer products distributors have filed an antitrust case against big fast-delivery businesses of Zomato, Swiggy and Zepto, calling for an investigation into alleged deep discounting practices, legal papers show.

India's e-commerce sector has faced intense scrutiny over how products are priced online. An antitrust investigation last year found Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart favour select sellers and resorted to "predatory pricing", which hurts smaller retailers. The companies have denied the allegations.

Quick commerce, in which companies deliver consumer products within 10 minutes from neighbourhood warehouses, is popular with customers but has upset smaller retailers as shoppers use apps to order everything from milk to pulses. Bernstein estimates India's quick commerce sector will reach $35 billion in 2030, from $200 million in 2021.

The All India Consumer Products Distributors Federation (AICPDF), in a case filing with the Competition Commission of India, has asked for an investigation into many business practices of Zomato's ZOMT.NS Blinkit, Swiggy's SWIG.NS instamart, and Zepto, including how discounts are doled out.

"An alarming trend of predatory pricing and deep discounting practices by Q-commerce platforms resulted in unfair pricing models," said the group's filing, which is not public but was reviewed by Reuters.

Zomato and Swiggy did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Zepto declined comment. The CCI did not respond.

The filing could increase headaches for Zomato and Swiggy. A separate CCI investigation last year found their food delivery businesses breached competition laws. The case is ongoing.

Zepto is preparing for an IPO after raising funds at a valuation of $5 billion last year.

The watchdog will review the case filing and can order its investigation unit to look at the matter closely. This can take several months and may require companies to explain their businesses. It can dismiss the case if it finds no merit in it.

AICPDF has 400,000 distributors as members, who supply products of brands such as Nestle NEST.NS, Unilever ULVR.L and Tata to 13 million retail shops across India.

A recent Datum Intelligence survey of 3,000 Indian quick commerce shoppers showed 36% had reduced shopping at supermarkets and 46% cut back purchases from small independent stores.

In its filing, AICPDF said local brick-and-mortar stores "cannot match" the quick commerce giants' discounts. It compared online and offline pricing of 25 products, including of Nestle and Hindustan Unilever HLL.NS.

A variant of a Nescafe coffee jar which a small independent Indian retailer receives from companies for about 622 rupees ($7.14) is offered for 514 rupees on Zepto, 577 rupees on Swiggy Instamart and 625 rupees on Blinkit, according to the filing.

Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is mimicking the strategy to offer fast deliveries, as are Amazon and Flipkart in limited areas.

Datum estimates Blinkit has a 40% market share in India's quick commerce market, with 1,007 small warehouses, while Zepto has more than 900 stores and a 29% market share. Swiggy's Instamart service holds a 26% share.

(Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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By Praveen Paramasivam and Juveria Tabassum

Feb 28 (Reuters) - India's BigBasket is planning to go public in the next 18 to 24 months, its CEO said, as the Tata Group-backed grocery giant seeks to tap surging demand for quick online deliveries of everything from fruits to Apple iPhones.

The company is on track to double its business year-on-year by March 2026 and expand to about 70 Indian cities from 35 currently over the next year, CEO Hari Menon told Reuters on the sidelines of a retail summit in Mumbai. He stopped short of detailing any investment plans.

BigBasket's plans for its listing in India come as the domestic quick commerce industry sees high double-digit sales growth, with rivals such as Swiggy's Instamart and Zomato's Blinkit racing to make the most of red-hot demand for 10-minute deliveries in urban metros.

Zomato ZOMT.NS and recently listed Swiggy SWIG.NS are also increasing their investments to ramp up offerings, open more warehouses and win market share, as the quick commerce industry defies a broader economic slowdown in the country.

"Assortment is the play, in my view," said Menon, whose firm is also expanding its range of products to include electronics, pharmaceuticals and fashion categories.

Quick commerce makes up about 80% of BigBasket's revenue, he said.

The grocery delivery firm, in which Tata Sons [RIC:RIC:TATAS.UL] has a majority stake, is also set to roll out quick food deliveries, Menon said without laying out a timeline, a move that will pit the company against other 10-minute food services such as Zomato's "Bistro", Swiggy's "Bolt" and Zepto's "Zepto Cafe".

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam and Juveria Tabassum in Mumbai, Writing by Ananta Agarwal; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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Feb 25 (Reuters) - India's booming quick-commerce sector may struggle to maintain its current pace of growth as expansion beyond major cities remains limited and competition from larger e-commerce players intensifies, according to a report by Blume Ventures.

These companies deliver groceries to electronics within minutes and their market share has grown to $7.1 billion in fiscal year 2025 from just $300 million in 2022, the venture capital firm's Indus Valley 2025 report said.

India's "fastest growing industry segment ever", dominated by the likes of Zomato ZOMT.NS-owned Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy SWIG.NS Instamart, logged a 24-fold increase in gross order value (GOV) in the same period, it said.

However, the segment will soon see its monthly transacting user (MTU) growth tapering, much like the country's ride-share, food delivery and e-commerce sectors before, the report warned.

Moreover, the quick-commerce firms face stiff competition from large e-commerce platforms such as Walmart's WMT.N Flipkart, Amazon AMZN.O and Reliance RELI.NS, who are preparing to launch their own quick-commerce operations.

"… while it is not guaranteed they will be able to counter quick-commerce players, the increased competition will have some impact on the industry profit pool," the report said.

Additionally, the expanding sector will likely start to affect the local grocery ecosystem and attract regulatory measures to check its growth, the report said.

Earlier this month, TVS Capital Funds Chairman Gopal Srinivasan in an interview to Reuters said that India's quick-commerce frenzy is a "passing fad" and unsustainable in the long run.

Blume Ventures was one of the earliest backers of crisis-laden quick-commerce firm Dunzo, which is reportedly on the brink of shutdown after a spate of layoffs, founder exits and unpaid vendor dues.

(Reporting by Ashwin Manikandan; Editing by Sumana Nandy)

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Feb 21 (Reuters) - Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd BPCL.NS:

• NSE: BPCL AND BRITANNIA INDUSTRIES BEING EXCLUDED FROM NIFTY 50

• NSE: JIO FINANCIAL SERVICES AND ZOMATO BEING INCLUDED IN NIFTY 50

• NSE: CHANGES IN NIFTY 50 STOCKS SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE FROM MARCH 28

Source text: [ID:]

Further company coverage: BPCL.NS

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Rewrites throughout, Adds analyst comment in paragraph 9, details on margin in paragraph 10

By Manvi Pant and Praveen Paramasivam

Feb 6 (Reuters) - Shares of Swiggy SWIG.NS plunged about 8% to a record low on Thursday, after the Indian delivery firm's quarterly loss worsened as an expansion of its quick commerce stores to counter rivals such as Blinkit and Zepto hit margins.

The shares, which had their trading debut in November, fell as much as 7.9% and were on course for a seventh straight week of decline. Last down 5.3% at 395.2 rupees, the shares have fallen 6% below their debut price.

India's benchmark index .NSEI was down 0.3% on the day.

At least six brokerages lowered their price targets on the Swiggy shares after Swiggy said on Wednesday its consolidated loss widened 39% to 7.99 billion rupees ($91 million) in the December quarter.

The mean price target of 14 analysts on the stock has fallen to 552.21 rupees from 578.85 rupees on February 5, data compiled by LSEG showed.

Top quick commerce apps are rapidly expanding to chase growth at a time when the food delivery business is showing signs of slowing.

Swiggy and its peer Zomato ZOMT.NS have intensified their focus on quick commerce, which aims to deliver a variety of goods in 10 minutes, by opening more warehouses and expanding existing ones.

Swiggy's Instamart quick-delivery platform contributed less to earnings as it poured money into expanding so-called dark stores, offered bigger discounts and hired more personnel during the seasonally-strong quarter.

"Balancing profitability with expansion is even more relevant for Instamart," Elara Capital analyst Karan Taurani said on Thursday.

Instamart's contribution margin - a measure of profitability - worsened by 270 basis points from the previous three months, while the margin for Zomato-owned rival Blinkit worsened by about 80 basis points.

Instamart opened 96 new warehouses in the December quarter, nearly double than the previous quarter.

The opening of 86 stores in January could pressure margins in the current quarter, analysts said.

($1 = 87.5325 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Manvi Pant in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Varun H K)

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Adds company statement in paragraph 6, details in paragraphs 7 to 11

Feb 5 (Reuters) - India's Swiggy SWIG.NS reported a wider quarterly loss on Wednesday, as the online platform poured money into its quick commerce business to compete with rivals Zomato ZOMT.NS and Zepto.

The company reported a consolidated loss of 7.99 billion rupees ($91.40 million) for the third quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a loss of 5.74 billion rupees a year earlier.

Companies such as Swiggy and Zomato are doubling down on quick commerce, aiming to deliver goods ranging from groceries o electronics in 10 minutes or less, by opening more warehouses or so-called "dark stores" to fulfil such orders.

Zomato, which owns Blinkit, plans to double its warehouse count to 2,000 by the end of 2025, while Swiggy has plans to close the financial year with twice as many fulfilment centers for its Instamart business from 523 a year ago.

Swiggy's quarterly expenses jumped about 32% to 48.98 billion rupees.

"Instamart growth ramp-up continues amidst significant investments to expand the (quick delivery) market," the company said in a press release.

The company added 96 new dark stores in the quarter, bringing its total to 705.

The rapid expansion in quick commerce and steady food delivery demand led to its revenue climbing about 31% to 39.93 billion rupees.

Food delivery revenue grew 24%, while quick commerce revenue more than doubled.

Instamart's gross order value - the total monetary value of orders including delivery and packaging charges - rose 88% on higher consumer spending and expansion into new cities.

Meanwhile, the gross order value in its food business grew about 3% sequentially, as per Reuters calculations, led by the launch of a 10-minute delivery service called Bolt, but the growth slowed from the 5.6% increase last quarter.

($1 = 87.4170 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam; Editing by Varun H K)

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Feb 4 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• ZOMATO LTD - RECEIVES FAVORABLE ORDER DROPPING GST DEMAND OF 59.1 MILLION RUPEES

Source text: ID:nBSE2p684L

Further company coverage: ZOMT.NS

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The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own. Updates to add graphic.

By Shritama Bose

MUMBAI, Feb 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - India is retreating from a long-term goal to improve its finances. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration on Saturday proposed cuts to levies on personal income to shore up consumption which is growing at its slowest pace in four years. But the move drastically shrinks the taxpayer base and can go only so far in meeting its target.

New Delhi is giving up nearly $12 billion of revenue, or about 3% of its receipts for the year ending in March 2025 by raising the exemption threshold for taxpayers by 83% to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) per year and reducing rates for people earning up to nearly twice that amount.

That offers relief to a swathe of the middle class whose wages are stagnating; it will halve the share of working-age Indians paying income tax to 1%, per Breakingviews calculations based on data from the government and the International Labour Organization. No wonder shares of carmaker Maruti Suzuki MRTI.NS and food delivery firms Zomato ZOMT.NS and Swiggy SWIG.NS jumped 6% or more during the weekend special trading session.

But it takes India a step back on its journey to widening its tax base. The country’s income-tax to GDP ratio climbed to 6.6%, a 24-year high in the year ended March 2024 on the back of improved collection efficiencies. The U.S. ratio is in double digits, per World Bank data.

India could boost the spending power of a wider group of people and ease inflation if it slashes levies on fuel or cooking gas, but getting the country's 28 provinces to agree to lower revenue from fuel makes that a taller task.

For now, the government is relying on the Reserve Bank of India. Policymakers are pencilling in a higher dividend from the central bank to make up part of its revenue shortfall. They will also expect the RBI to deliver a rate cut to push discretionary spending, although the global trade war unleashed by Washington will make trimming borrowing costs harder.

The core issue of weak incomes is harder to solve. Real average monthly earnings of salaried and self-employed workers in the year ended March 2024 fell below the levels they were at six years ago, with the female self-employed cohort seeing the steepest drop of 32%, per the government's economic survey.

Modi's tax cuts will leave more money in people's pockets, but it's a short-term fix.

CONTEXT NEWS

India will propose cutting personal income tax rates to boost the spending power of the middle-class, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Feb. 1, as she announced the government's annual budget for the financial year to March 2026.

People earning up to 1.28 million rupees ($14,800) a year will not have to pay any taxes, raising the exemption threshold from $8,074. The top tax rate of 30% will apply to annual income above 2.4 million rupees against the current level of 1.5 million rupees. The measures would forego around $11.8 billion in tax revenue, Sitharaman said.

(Editing by Una Galani and Aditya Srivastav)

((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on BOSE/
[email protected]))

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Zomato Ltd ZOMT.NS:

• ZOMATO - CONSOL ADJUSTED EBITDA DECLINED Q/Q DUE TO ACCELERATED INVESTMENTS IN EXPANDING QUICK COMMERCE STORE NETWORK

Source text: ID:nNSE5DFcfZ

Further company coverage: ZOMT.NS

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