Flipkart Minutes has moved ahead of Swiggy Instamart in terms of dark-store presence across India’s top 10 cities.
According to a CLSA report, a financial research publication, Flipkart Minutes operated 627 dark stores across the 10 cities as of August 2026, compared with 615 for Swiggy Instamart.
Flipkart Minutes has surpassed Instamart in pincode coverage across these markets, report says.
Blinkit continues to maintain a clear lead, with 969 dark stores, followed by Zepto with 828. Flipkart Minutes ranks third with 627 stores, while Swiggy Instamart and BigBasket have 615 and 497, respectively. Collectively, the five platforms operate 3,536 dark stores across the cities covered in the report.
CLSA’s analysis covers Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Gurgaon, Lucknow and Ahmedabad. Amazon and JioMart have been excluded from the calculations.
Bengaluru has the highest concentration of dark stores at 735, followed by Delhi with 531 and Hyderabad with 484. Mumbai accounts for 372 stores, while Chennai has 365, Pune 293, Kolkata 248, Gurgaon 225, Lucknow 146 and Ahmedabad 137.
Blinkit accounts for about 30% of dark stores across the 10 cities and over 34% of the national network. It has the largest store network in six of the 10 cities, while Zepto leads in three of the other four markets.
The expansion of quick commerce is also extending beyond major urban centres. CLSA said dark stores are now present across 477 cities, with established players continuing to deepen their presence in existing markets while newer entrants test demand in smaller cities through limited initial store launches.
Flipkart Minutes, in particular, has expanded its presence in Tier III cities by 42 times over the past year, including markets such as Ara and Muzaffarpur in Bihar.
CLSA has a more favourable view of Eternal, the parent company of Blinkit, than Swiggy. It has assigned Eternal a target price of Rs 506, representing a 53.5% upside over its August 25 closing price of Rs 329.6. Swiggy has a target price of Rs 312, implying an 8.7% upside from its closing price of Rs 286.9.
