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Did Zomato buy Blinkit to offset its losses from online food delivery?

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Online food delivery platform Zomato, which saw its stock tumbling below its IPO price as India reopened and retail food industry came back on track, had acquired quick-commerce grocery delivery platform Blinkit for a whopping Rs 4,447 crore (about $568 million). Will this acquisition change its future prospects?

Zomato already owned more than 9 per cent stake in Blinkit (earlier Grofers). While the earlier Blinkit deal was valued around $700 million, the drop in Zomato’s share price reduced it to $568 million.

Zomato’s stock is hovering around Rs 70, after sliding to nearly Rs 50 (it opened at Rs 76 during its mega IPO last year).

According to market experts, Zomato is facing severe cash flow problems as its operational cost is running quite high.

Zomato Founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal said on Friday that he is not getting into the quick commerce market because growth in food delivery is now saturating.

“Food delivery has a long runway ahead. In FY22, our Adjusted Revenue grew by 109 per cent over FY21 and we expect healthy growth to continue going forward,” he noted.

According to him, quick commerce is a natural extension of Zomato’s food delivery business.

“How is it a natural extension? Because it is also a hyperlocal business, just like food delivery. And, because it also caters to a need for quick delivery of products for our customers. Quick commerce will help us increase the customer wallet share spent on our platform and also drive higher frequency and engagement from our customers,” he said in a company statement.

Zomato has grown at a CAGR of 86 per cent in the last four years to an adjusted revenue of $710 million “while the adjusted EBITDA margin has improved from (153 per cent) in FY19 to (18 per cent) in FY22”.

The acquisition came as the quick commerce (10-minute delivery) segment is brewing with new hope as people prefer groceries and other home essentials at their doorsteps within no time after making an online order.

Startups like Swiggy Instamart, Zepto and Reliance-backed Dunzo, among others, are trying to defy the current slowdown, as they add more goods and daily essentials to their kitty and deliver them to their customers.

In December 2021, Swiggy announced to pour $700 million into Instamart.

Last month, 10-minute delivery platform Zepto raised $200 million, taking its valuation to around $900 million.

India’s quick commerce market is all set to witness 15 times growth by 2025, reaching a market size of nearly $5.5 billion, according to Bengaluru-based market research firm RedSeer.

The total addressable market for quick commerce in India stands at $45 billion, and urban areas are driving this market on the back of mid-high-income households.

According to Akshant Goyal, Chief Financial Officer, Zomato, their food business is trending towards profitability faster than what they hadAthought at the time of the IPO last year.

“The timeframe for overall Zomato profitability does not change in our minds. In fact, we believe we will now get to profitability within the same timelines (as we thought last year) but with a much larger addressable market. We are also not envisaging any furtherAcapital raise to get to profitability in this timeframe,” he said.

Goyal said that as a food company, “we are already tapping into the large food delivery opportunity in India”.

“Customers (and data) are clearly signalling the macro trend that people are moving to unplanned and spontaneous purchases. To add to this, monthly order frequency on Blinkit app was 3.5x in May 2022, which is higher than that of food delivery on Zomato,” informed Goyal.

Blinkit’s gross order value (GOV) is fast catching up with Zomato’s GOV in some key markets, therefore indicating that quick commerce will add a significant new addressable market to our business in the long term.

“In a sample market like Gurugram, Blinkit GOV is already 63 per cent of Zomato’s food delivery GOV,” Goyal added.

Quick commerce naturally extends across multiple categories including beauty and personal care, electronics, OTC pharma, stationery and other gift items, among others.

The company said it will keep the Blinkit app and brand separate from Zomato.

“We will explore ways in which Blinkit can benefit from Zomato’s large customer base (and vice versa in the long term). Post the deal closure, we are going to start experimenting with various ideas that we have and see which all bear fruit, including having the Blinkit tab on the Zomato app,” the company said.

Crime

Delhi Police arrest notorious cyber stalker in Palam

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CRIME

New Delhi, July 2: A 21-year-old man was arrested in Delhi’s Palam village for allegedly harassing a college student by creating fake Instagram accounts and using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate objectionable content.

The accused was persistently stalking and defaming the victim, a college-going girl, through multiple fake Instagram profiles, Amit Goel, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South West District, said in a statement.

The complainant approached the Cyber Police Station, West District, on June 16, reporting that the accused was daily creating new accounts using her photographs, posting them with derogatory captions, and targeting her and her followers.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“In view of the seriousness of the matter, a dedicated team led by SI Priyanka was formed to identify and apprehend the accused,” the statement added.

A team of PS Cyber, South-West District, arrested the notorious cyber stalker and recovered the smartphone used in the commission of the offence, the statement read.

During the investigation, it came to the fore that the accused was impersonating a female using a profile picture taken from the victim’s public Instagram account, the police said.

The police said the accused further used AI tools to convert the images into sexually explicit content and uploaded these edited pictures through fake Instagram stories.

Despite efforts to mask his identity by not linking any accounts to verifiable mobile numbers or Gmail IDs, the cyber team used advanced technical analysis to track the suspect to the Palam area of South-West Delhi. Multiple raids were conducted before he was successfully arrested.

The accused, whose identity has been withheld, confessed to the crime during interrogation, the police statement read.

Further investigation is underway.

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National

Ashish Shelar Orders Timely Honorarium Disbursal And SOP Reinforcement For Senior Folk Artists

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Cultural Affairs Minister Adv. Ashish Shelar on Tuesday directed the department to re-communicate instructions to all District Collectors regarding the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for disbursal of honorarium to senior folk artists. He also instructed that every senior artist must receive a written response to their application within the prescribed timeframe.

A review meeting was held at Mantralaya to assess the remuneration process for senior artists, during which Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar issued key directives. The application process for this year’s honorarium disbursal began today.

Noting that several complaints are received annually regarding delays and inconsistencies, the Minister instructed the Director of Cultural Affairs to ensure time-bound redressal of all grievances. He emphasized that every senior artist must receive a written response to their application within the stipulated timeframe to build trust and transparency in the system.

Minister Shelar also pointed out that the formation of remuneration committees for senior artists is still pending in many districts. In light of this, he stressed the need to re-communicate the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all District Collectors to ensure uniformity and accountability in the implementation of the honorarium process across the state.

Deputy Secretary of the Cultural Affairs Department Mahesh Vavhal, Director of the Directorate of Cultural Affairs Bibhishan Chavare, Joint Director Shriram Pande, and other senior officials were present on the occasion.

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National

Ravindra Chavan, Trusted Lieutenant Of Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, Appointed BJP State Unit President

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Mumbai: Ravindra Chavan, known as a trusted lieutenant of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, will take over as BJP’s state unit president on Tuesday.

The incumbent, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, will hand over charge at a party conclave in Mumbai. The mantle is being handed to Chavan, whose grassroots planning ensured BJP’s impressive electoral performance in Thane and the Konkan belt, with an eye on the coming elections to the local bodies, according to party sources.

Chavan was the only candidate who filed his nomination papers on Monday at BJP state headquarters in the presence of Fadnavis, Bawankule and the party’s Maharashtra in-charge Arun Singh. Union minister Kiren Rijiju was present as the central observer.

Chavan represents Dombivali for the fourth term in the Assembly. He was a member of the Fadnavis cabinet between 2014 and 2019 and the Eknath Shinde-led government from 2022 to 2024. There was speculation of his elevation to the key party post started when he was denied a Cabinet berth after last year’s Assembly elections. He has been officiating as the working president of the state unit for the last few months.

The BJP is eyeing maximum number of municipal bodies in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) comprising 8 municipal corporations. With the elevation of Chavan, known for his aggressive politics, BJP seems to be sending out a message to deputy CM Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, which is likely to ask for lion’s share of seats for the civic polls. As an experienced leader, Chavan will shoulder his responsibilities with vigour and strength, Fadnavis asserted.

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