Swiggy’s move to qualify as an Indian Owned and Controlled Company (IOCC) could mark an important shift in the way it operates Instamart, giving the quick-commerce platform the flexibility to directly own inventory and capture a larger share of the economics across its supply chain.
Swiggy’s shareholders, on August 18, approved a 49.5 per cent cap on aggregate foreign ownership, along with changes to its governance structure, clearing a key hurdle in its effort to qualify as an IOCC. The inventory-led model would allow Instamart to buy and hold products directly, subject to applicable regulations and business requirements.
The immediate implication is greater control over procurement. Instead of relying entirely on third-party sellers and intermediaries, Instamart could increasingly source products directly from brands and manufacturers. This could help the company negotiate better procurement terms and retain a larger portion of the margin generated on every order.
For a business operating on thin margins, even a small improvement can become meaningful at scale.
“An inventory-led model, unlocked once Swiggy qualifies as an Indian Owned and Controlled Company, could add ₹4-5 per order on top,” Equirus Securities said in a recent report.
Equirus estimates that the benefit could be worth around 80 basis points of contribution margin. The brokerage, however, points out that inventory ownership is an incremental lever rather than the primary reason behind Instamart’s recent improvement in profitability.
Instamart’s contribution loss narrowed from 7.4 per cent of net order value in the fourth quarter of FY25 to 0.3 per cent in the first quarter of FY27, after crossing contribution break-even in May. Equirus said almost all of this improvement came from monetisation, with adjusted revenue per order rising to ₹108 from ₹83 in Q4 FY25, helped by better brand take-rates, advertising, and user fees.
“An inventory-led model could add ₹4-5 per order on top,” the brokerage said, estimating the benefit at roughly 80 basis points of contribution margin.
The shift also brings a different set of risks. Owning inventory means greater control, but also greater responsibility for working capital, inventory management, and unsold or slow-moving products. The economics will therefore depend on how efficiently Instamart can turn inventory while maintaining availability across its expanding dark-store network.
Blinkit offers a benchmark. Eternal had said that around 90 per cent of Blinkit’s net order value was already on its own inventory, while estimating that the transition would deliver no more than one percentage point of margin accretion.
For Swiggy, the timing is significant. Instamart reached contribution break-even in May, but Equirus says growth remains the bigger test, with NOV rising only 3 per cent sequentially in the June quarter. The company has restarted store additions, with about 75 stores expected to be added in the second quarter.
The IOCC status, therefore, gives Swiggy another lever to improve unit economics — but the larger challenge will be using that advantage to scale Instamart without giving back the margin gains through expansion and customer acquisition.
Published on August 19, 2026
