As one of India’s dominant delivery networks, Zomato’s quick commerce subsidiary Blinkit manages an extensive infrastructure of storage spaces and fulfillment networks capable of shipping everything from household groceries to advanced smartphones. Data from the FY2025-26 fiscal year highlights that the ecosystem operates with a staggering 31 lakh delivery partners supporting Zomato and Blinkit combined, with expectations of continued workforce expansion. Yet, anticipating future logistical challenges, company founder Deepinder Goyal has proposed an unconventional tech shift if a shortage of human delivery partners ever strains company capacity, indicating that drones could step in to manage rising delivery demands. Responding to an inquiry on X regarding whether everyone might end up working as a delivery partner over the next 15 years, Goyal voiced his desire for higher-quality jobs and remarked that the organization would explore drone integration should it face a scarcity of human labor for the role. This insight sparks an important discourse on the changing landscape of Indian gig work and the growing intervention of automated technology. Goyal clarified that drones serve as a prospective future remedy rather than an active, concrete operational plan, while also sharing that Eternal, Zomato’s parent company, proudly supports livelihood for approximately 1 per cent of India’s population and aims to expand that contribution to 5 per cent. While this technology is still being evaluated locally, competitive experiments have previously taken place, such as Swiggy’s 2021 collaboration with ANRA Technologies to test medical and food drone transits in Etah, Uttar Pradesh, and Rupnagar, Punjab, to assess whether packages could be transported beyond direct operator lines of sight. Swiggy also tested quick commerce drone drops via Instamart in Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR to ship inventory from dark stores to centralized collection points for last-mile human delivery, though these localized trials have yet to become commercial mainstays. Internationally, however, drone delivery is already operational through platforms like DoorDash—which partners with Wing, Flytrex, and Manna to fulfill restaurant orders in the US—and Alphabet’s Wing, which works alongside retail titan Walmart to provide drop-off deliveries in select American markets. Even with these technological milestones, drone delivery models remain bounded by operational hurdles, such as restricted cargo weight capacities, package size limitations, and weather-dependent disruptions that can obstruct package transit.
