Eternal’s Blinkit reported ₹184 crore in adjusted EBITDA profit in the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, while Swiggy’s Instamart added 69 dark stores and recorded a ₹895 crore adjusted EBITDA loss.
Blinkit added 308 stores and ended the quarter with 2,751. Its net order value (NOV) rose 79.3% from a year earlier to ₹20,940 crore. Adjusted EBITDA was 0.9% of NOV, and Eternal said the margin improved for a sixth consecutive quarter.
Eternal Chief Financial Officer Akshant Goyal said Blinkit is expected to pass 3,500 stores by March 2027 and reach about 5,000 by March 2028. Eternal said greater store density could lower the cost of serving an order. Eternal Group CEO Albinder Dhindsa said Blinkit is prioritizing frequent shoppers who buy across categories and can be served profitably.
Instamart had 1,240 dark stores across 133 cities, covering 5.2 million square feet. Swiggy said the 69 stores added in the quarter matched its total additions over the previous three quarters. Its contribution margin was negative 1% of gross order value (GOV), up 157 basis points year over year but down 82 basis points from the prior quarter. Adjusted EBITDA margin improved to negative 9.7% from negative 9.8% in fiscal 2027’s first quarter.
Swiggy cited assortment, customer experience and retention as growth priorities. Managing Director and Group CEO Sriharsha Majety said, “We see assortment as a curation game rather than a volume game.” Separately, the company said a planned shift to an inventory-led model could add about 80 basis points to Instamart’s contribution margin once implemented. Swiggy expects the transition to take two to three quarters.
Adjusted EBITDA was positive in both companies’ food-delivery businesses. Eternal’s Zomato business recorded ₹627 crore, or 5.5% of NOV, as NOV rose 21.5% to ₹11,445 crore. Swiggy reported ₹341 crore, or 3.4% of GOV, while food-delivery GOV grew 17.7% to ₹10,054 crore.
