Zomato backs Blinkit expansion amid losses

Zomato's Q3 profit drops 57%, weighed down by quick-commerce arm

- Sowmya Ramasubramanian

Zomato Ltd will continue to floor the accelerator on its Blinkit expansion, burning cash to reach 2,000 dark stores a year ahead of target even as the quick-commerce business plunged its third-quarter profit.

The firm's profit after tax fell 57% year-on-year to ₹159 crore in the December quarter, weighed by Blinkit's ₹103 crore loss.

Zomato is also investing in its new events-focused platform District. The company is looking to double Blinkit's dark stores or warehouses to about 2,000 by the end of this year from about 1,007 now. Blinkit opened 152 dark stores in the September quarter and 216 in October-December, adding 1.3 million sq.ft of warehousing space (which accounts for more than 30% of its overall dark store network).