Shares of delivery tech firms Eternal (parent of Zomato) and Swiggy fell up to 3% on February 12 as a report said IPO-bound e-commerce major Flipkart is exploring food delivery launch.

Flipkart is evaluating a foray into India’s online food delivery segment, with a pilot likely in Bengaluru around May–June and a broader launch possible by late 2026 or early 2027, people in the know told Economic Times.

The move would pitch the Walmart-owned ecommerce major directly against Zomato and Swiggy in a market estimated at $9 billion in FY25 and projected to grow to $25 billion by FY30, according to Jefferies. For Flipkart, the stakes go beyond food — it is preparing for a public listing and is seeking new growth engines.

“Flipkart is evaluating the food delivery market while trying to identify a differentiated positioning in the space,” one of the people told Economic Times.

A second person told Economic Times that Flipkart is weighing whether to build a standalone platform or launch a buyer-side application on the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Both options remain under active consideration, and the company has already begun building a team for the initiative.

At 10:25 am on February 12, Eternal shares were trading 1.6% lower at Rs 295.9 apiece while those of Swiggy were trading 3% lower at Rs 331.75 apiece.

Flipkart had previously explored entering food delivery through ONDC about two years ago, alongside peers such as Ola and Paytm, but that plan did not move beyond initial discussions.

The renewed interest comes at a time when the segment is evolving from an indulgence-led category to an everyday consumption channel, helped by improvements in affordability, delivery speed and reliability, as noted by Jefferies.

India’s food delivery market has sharply consolidated over the past few years. Zomato and Swiggy dominate the space after a series of exits by smaller players. Outside India and China, brokerages note, most major markets have stabilised into three or four operators, often led by a single dominant player.

After several quarters of growth at the lower end of their 18–22 percent medium-term guidance, both Zomato and Swiggy signalled improved demand in the October–December quarter. Gross order value rose 21.3 percent year-on-year for Zomato and 20.5 percent for Swiggy.

At the same time, new formats such as 10-minute café-style delivery have emerged, even as overall consumption trends remain uneven.

Urban mobility startup Rapido recently scaled up its Ownly food delivery platform across Bengaluru and plans expansion to Pune, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR in the coming months, a person familiar with its plans told Economic Times. The platform positions itself as addressing restaurant concerns over high commissions and transparency on larger platforms.

Flipkart’s evaluation of food delivery coincides with aggressive expansion in its quick commerce vertical, Minutes. According to people familiar with the matter, Minutes operates more than 800 dark stores and plans to scale up its network of micro warehouses in the coming months.

This infrastructure could provide logistical leverage if Flipkart enters food delivery, particularly in dense urban markets where speed and reliability are critical.