Home ／ Insights on entering the Indian market
2026.09.19
In urban India, having food and daily necessities delivered within about 10 minutes of ordering has become an everyday experience. Behind this is the dark store — a small warehouse placed around the city for delivery purposes only, not a storefront.
From a Japanese manufacturer's perspective, this is just another "shelf." However, the terms differ from both a supermarket shelf and an independent shop's shelf. This article organizes what it actually means to place a product in a dark store, and who you need to decide what with. For the overall picture of the market, see India's quick commerce (10-minute delivery).
The general public cannot enter a dark store. When an order comes in, staff inside gather the items and hand them to a delivery worker. They are located within residential areas, are small in floor area, and can carry only a limited number of items. Because placing more of them nearby speeds up delivery, each company is competing on density.
The two listed companies disclose their store counts quarterly, and Zepto discloses its store count in its listing filing documents. Note that the reference dates differ.
| Operator | Number of dark stores | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Blinkit (Eternal) | 2,443 stores (net increase of 200 for the quarter) | April-June 2026 quarter |
| Swiggy Instamart | 1,171 stores, 131 cities (net increase of 28 for the quarter) | April-June 2026 quarter |
| Zepto | 1,139 stores | End of March 2026 (as disclosed in the updated listing filing documents) |
Swiggy has indicated plans to add about 75 Instamart dark stores in the July-September 2026 quarter.
In India, operators that are majority foreign-owned, or controlled by foreign capital, are not permitted to hold inventory and sell directly to consumers (inventory-based e-commerce). A marketplace model is permitted even with 100% foreign ownership. This line is set out by Press Note 2 of 2018. Since the criterion is not "whether foreign capital is involved" but "whether a majority stake is held," whether each company can hold its own inventory depends on its capital structure.
Eternal, Blinkit's parent company, became an Indian-owned and controlled company (IOCC) by capping the proportion of foreign ownership. This does not mean no foreign capital is involved — it means the company arranged things so that no majority stake is held by foreign capital. This allowed Blinkit to hold inventory without running afoul of foreign investment regulations.
The transition began in the April-June 2025 quarter, sellers were required to switch over by July 30 of that year, and the new arrangement took effect on September 1. After the buyout, Blinkit purchases products from brands and sells them from its own dark stores. However, the switch was not complete — Eternal states it will continue to run the marketplace model in parallel.
Because Zepto is majority foreign-owned, it cannot adopt the inventory-based model itself. It set up a marketplace-model entity in 2024 to handle this. Since moving to the inventory-based model requires being controlled by Indian capital, the ongoing trend of domestic investors raising their ownership stakes is driven by this constraint.
| Operator | Capital structure and inventory | What is publicly disclosed |
|---|---|---|
| Blinkit (Eternal) | Became an Indian-capital-controlled company by capping the proportion of foreign ownership. Running both the inventory-based and marketplace models in parallel since 2025 | Discloses dark store count quarterly |
| Swiggy Instamart | Cannot be confirmed from public information | Discloses dark store count and number of cities quarterly |
| Zepto | Handled through a marketplace-model entity because it is majority foreign-owned | Discloses store count in updated listing filing documents |
Who holds the inventory directly determines the form of the contract. For Instamart, this cannot be confirmed from public information alone, so it is an item to check at the start of negotiations.
A Japanese company's position changes depending on who holds the inventory.
In the former case, inventory risk shifts to the other party, but they decide how much they will buy. In the latter case, you need to manage your own inventory. Check which form applies from the start.
As a prerequisite for listing, the following are needed on the Indian side.
These can only be held by a business entity registered in India. Since a Japanese head office cannot arrange these on its own, an importer or a local sales company becomes the entity that lists the products. Import and licensing support organizes this, including who becomes the importer.
Product information is submitted in the format each company specifies. Required items include the product name, description, images, MRP, supply price, EAN barcode, expiration date, and HSN code. Japanese-language packaging information cannot be submitted as-is.
Fees are not publicly disclosed. Rates are decided through negotiation by brand and category. When getting a quote, ask on the assumption that the following elements will stack up separately.
Because neither the fee schedule nor the terms are publicly disclosed, the structure cannot be determined from the outside. There are reports of companies being asked for a per-item listing fee, but even the unit — whether it's per state or per city — is reportedly subject to negotiation. This is exactly why you should have the quote broken out item by item. It is realistic to start by narrowing down the cities and items.
Each company is expanding store size and product range, and the number of items handled is increasing. Even so, per-area constraints remain, and the fact that products that don't turn over get dropped is the same as with any sales floor. Since none of the companies publicly disclose the criteria for adoption or removal, ask before signing the contract how many weeks of performance data they use to make that judgment.
Since fast turnover is a given, imported goods with a high unit price and low purchase frequency are likely to be at a disadvantage. Conversely, a product that can be brought down to a price point that gets bought repeatedly on a daily basis can turn distribution speed into a major weapon.
On August 13, 2026, Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected 86 dark stores involved in online sales and suspended the licenses of 14 facilities. Of these, 5 were Blinkit, 5 were Zepto, 2 were Instamart, and 2 were others. Improvement orders were issued for 60 facilities, and one facility was ordered to temporarily halt operations.
The issues cited included inadequate temperature control, lighting, food storage methods, sanitary facilities, and cleanliness. At one facility in Mumbai, food packaging was recorded placed directly on the floor, with insufficient storage space and overcrowded products.
AICPDF, an industry association of consumer goods distributors, has also called on health authorities to establish storage standards for dark stores. While this request comes from the existing distribution side, pressure to establish standards is coming from both the government and the industry.
If you handle products that require temperature control, this point is directly tied to your own product quality. It is an item to confirm before signing a contract — how storage conditions will be guaranteed.
Conditions that are suited and conditions that are not can be separated as follows.
It is safer to first gather price and turnover figures at supermarkets, then expand into quick commerce. Differences by sales floor are covered in Where should you start developing sales channels in India? and independent-shop-side distribution is covered in Is wholesaling to India's ubiquitous kirana shops possible?.
These are laid out below as questions you can use as-is.
If you want to gauge the response first, there is also the option of testing it at a tasting event or other event. Tasting and other events covers this.
In practice, this is difficult. The platforms require the seller to be a business entity registered in India. Listing requires GST registration, a PAN, an FSSAI license, and an Indian bank account, which is not realistic for a Japanese head office to arrange on its own. An importer or local sales company becomes the entity that lists the products, and the Japanese side sells to that party.
It is a small warehouse, closed to the general public, used only for delivery. When an order comes in, staff gather the products and hand them to a delivery worker. By placing them densely within residential areas, delivery time is shortened, and because the floor area is small, the number of items that can be handled is limited. Since it is not a sales floor where products are displayed for customers to see, a sales approach based on picking up the package doesn't work. Product images and descriptions in the app take the place of the shelf.
Blinkit (Eternal) has 2,443 stores, and Swiggy Instamart has 1,171 stores across 131 cities (both as of the April-June 2026 quarter). Zepto disclosed 1,139 stores as of the end of March 2026 in its updated listing filing documents. Since the reference dates differ, a simple comparison isn't possible.
Foreign investment regulation is the reason. In India, operators that are majority foreign-owned, or controlled by foreign capital, are not permitted to hold inventory and sell directly to consumers. Blinkit became able to run the inventory-based model alongside the marketplace model from 2025 after its parent company Eternal capped its foreign ownership ratio to become an Indian-capital-controlled company. Zepto, being majority foreign-owned, handles this through a marketplace-model entity. Who holds the inventory determines whether a brand "sells" or is "given space to place" its products.
They are not publicly disclosed. Neither a fee schedule nor terms are made public, and they are decided through negotiation by category and brand. When getting a quote, have the sales commission, delivery fees, inbound handling fees, storage fees, and product listing fees broken out separately. There are reports of companies being asked for a listing fee, but even its unit is reportedly subject to negotiation.
It depends on the conditions. Since dark stores assume fast turnover, products with a high unit price and low purchase frequency are likely to be at a disadvantage. If a product can be brought to a price point bought repeatedly, distribution speed becomes a weapon. It is safer to first gather price and turnover figures at supermarkets before expanding.
Government scrutiny is beginning. On August 13, 2026, Maharashtra's FDA inspected 86 dark stores and suspended the licenses of 14 facilities. Deficiencies were cited in temperature control, storage methods, and cleanliness. If you handle products that require temperature control, confirm before signing a contract how storage conditions will be guaranteed.
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