Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto now hold over Rs 40,000 crore in cash as quick commerce race heats up

Blinkit, Instamart and Zepto now hold over Rs 40,000 crore in cash as quick-commerce race heats up

India’s quick-commerce boom is now backed by one of the largest cash piles in the country’s consumer internet space but the numbers mask a sharp churn in capital over the past year.

A Moneycontrol analysis found that the top three players — Blinkit parent Eternal, Swiggy and Zepto — are together sitting on over Rs 40,000 crore in cash, even after burning nearly Rs 9,000 crore collectively in the past nine to 11 months.

The surge in cash follows a series of large fundraises and capital infusions over the past few months, as quick-commerce players step up spending on dark-store expansion, delivery infrastructure and inventory across key urban markets.

The most recent cash build-up has come from Swiggy’s Rs 10,000-crore qualified institutional placement (QIP), which has sharply altered its balance sheet.

The company ended the second quarter with a consolidated cash balance of Rs 4,605 crore but once the QIP proceeds are fully reflected, its reserves are expected to rise to around Rs 14,605 crore.

In addition to the QIP, Swiggy’s liquidity position is set to strengthen further. The company’s recent stake sale in Rapido in September is expected to add around Rs 2,400 crore to its coffers, which will reflect in its Q3 FY26 filings. This would take Swiggy’s total cash reserves from the post-QIP level of Rs 14,605 crore to over Rs 17,000 crore, giving it even deeper runway as quick-commerce investments accelerate.

Despite Swiggy’s sharp liquidity boost, Eternal still leads on the balance-sheet front. The Blinkit parent closed the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of Rs 18,314 crore, remaining the most deeply capitalised player in the segment. The financial cushion has allowed Eternal to aggressively invest in Blinkit, adding dark stores and expanding offers.

Zepto completes the trio with a sizable war chest of its own. Following the recent $450-million fundraise, the pure-play quick-commerce firm is sitting on a cash balance of about $900 million, or roughly Rs 8,085 crore, as it intensifies its push across large urban markets and prepares for a possible listing early next year.

The headline cash balances also reflect a period of heavy burn across all three companies.

Swiggy had a cash balance of Rs 8,183 crore in Q3, of which Rs 4,500 crore was raised via its IPO. Cash fell to Rs 4,605 crore in Q2 FY26, implying a burn of around Rs 3,578 crore over nine months.

Eternal reported a cash balance of Rs 19,235 crore in Q3 FY25, which included its Rs 8,500-crore QIP. The company had Rs 10,813 crore in Q2. As of Q2 FY26, its cash balance stands at Rs 18,314 crore, indicating a burn of around Rs 921 crore.

Zepto had a cash balance of $1.4 billion (roughly Rs 12,596 crore) as of November 2024. It has since come down to $900 million (around Rs 8,097 crore) as of its fundraise in October this year, implying a burn of about $500 million, or roughly Rs 4,498 crore, in under a year.

Together, the three firms have burned close to Rs 9,000 crore, underlining the intensity of the spending cycle even as fresh capital continues to flow in.

The rapid expansion in India’s quick commerce segment is driving the capital deployment.

Swiggy, in its recent QIP filing, disclosed that Rs 4,475 crore — nearly half of the money it is raising — would be used for quick-commerce fulfilment infrastructure, including dark stores and warehouses, over the next three years.

The spending is aimed at deepening store density, compressing delivery timelines and widening product assortment across key cities.

Blinkit is on a similar track. It operates more than 1,800 dark stores and has set a target of 3,000 stores by March 2027. To support this pace of expansion, Eternal recently injected Rs 600 crore into Blinkit, taking its total capital support this year to Rs 2,100 crore.

For Zepto, the fresh $450-million round is expected to fuel a parallel race for store density, inventory depth and delivery speed.

Analysts tracking the sector say competitive intensity is likely to remain elevated over the next several quarters, especially after Zepto’s fundraise reset capital expectations.

This escalation in spending comes with rising structural costs. Quick commerce remains among the most cash-intensive operating models in the Indian consumer internet space, driven by store leases, inventory stocking, last-mile delivery, rider incentives and sustained promotional activity.

Swiggy has said its QIP capital is proposed to be deployed through December 2028, effectively committing the company to a multi-year investment cycle.

Eternal’s reserves give Blinkit a similar long runway, while Zepto’s expansion also remains closely tied to continued capital support and high-volume demand growth.

As spending accelerates, questions around sustainability are also sharpening.

Blinkit chief executive Albinder Dhindsa recently warned that India’s quick-commerce sector could be approaching a shake-out phase, flagging the risk of a bubble as losses mount and capital deployment remains aggressive.

For now, the numbers point to a sector that is still exceptionally well funded. With more than Rs 40,000 crore in combined cash, the next phase of the quick-commerce battle will be decided not by who can raise money but by who can convert that money into durable scale without worsening unit economics.

Watch this space.