Deepinder Goyal has said that Zomato’s parent company, Eternal, could turn to drones for deliveries if it cannot find enough people to perform the work in the future. Responding to a discussion on social media about whether delivery jobs could become a dominant source of employment over the next 15 years, Goyal said he hoped India would create better job opportunities and that the company would consider drones when human workers were no longer available in sufficient numbers. The comments have renewed discussion about how automation could reshape food delivery and quick commerce in India.
The remarks should not be interpreted as an announcement of an immediate drone-delivery service. Eternal has not announced a new drone programme, and the company’s earlier drone experiments did not develop into a customer-facing delivery operation. The comments come as Zomato and its quick-commerce platform Blinkit rely on a large pool of delivery partners to fulfil orders. Eternal reported that 31 lakh people worked as delivery partners across the two platforms at some point during financial year 2025–26, although the number active in any given month was considerably smaller. The debate therefore concerns both the future of delivery technology and the availability of better employment opportunities.
Key Takeaways
- Drones as a future option: Deepinder Goyal said Eternal could consider drones if it cannot find enough people for delivery work.
- No launch announced: The statement describes a possible future response to a labour shortage, not a confirmed drone-delivery rollout.
- 31 lakh annual delivery partners: Zomato and Blinkit collectively recorded 31 lakh delivery partners during FY2025–26, up 57% year over year.
- Monthly activity is lower: Eternal reported average monthly delivery-partner figures separately for food delivery and quick commerce, illustrating the difference between annual participation and active workforce size.
- Jobs remain part of the debate: Goyal said he hoped India would create better employment opportunities rather than see more people depend on delivery work.
- Technical challenges remain: Drone deliveries face constraints involving payloads, weather, flight permissions, landing infrastructure and the final handover to customers.
- Automation may complement riders: A practical future model could use drones for selected routes or transfers while human workers handle the final stage of delivery.
What Deepinder Goyal Said About Drone Deliveries
The discussion began with a social media post questioning whether almost everyone might eventually become a delivery worker over the next 15 years. Goyal responded that he hoped this would not happen, adding that India needed better jobs and that Eternal would look to drones when it did not have enough people for delivery work.
The comment connects two issues that are often discussed separately: the availability of gig work and the potential for automation to reduce dependence on human labour for certain tasks.
Delivery platforms have expanded employment opportunities for people who want flexible work. At the same time, the model depends on having enough workers available to collect orders, travel to customers and complete deliveries across cities and towns.
Goyal’s response suggests that drones could eventually serve as an alternative if the supply of delivery workers becomes insufficient. It does not establish when such a shortage might occur, which locations would be affected or how much of the delivery network could be automated.
The remarks also do not mean Eternal intends to replace its current delivery workforce with drones. The stated condition was a future shortage of people willing or available to perform the work.
How Large Is Zomato and Blinkit’s Delivery Workforce?
Eternal reported that 31 lakh people worked as delivery partners across Zomato and Blinkit during FY2025–26, an increase of 57% compared with the previous financial year.
However, the annual figure counts people who delivered at some point during the year. It does not mean 31 lakh riders were simultaneously active on the platforms.
The distinction matters because gig work can be temporary or irregular. Some delivery partners work for short periods, while others deliver regularly or use the platforms alongside other employment. Annual participation therefore provides a different picture from the number of workers active in a typical month.
Eternal’s reported figures for April to June 2026 included approximately 6.38 lakh monthly active delivery partners in food delivery and 5.21 lakh in quick commerce. These categories are reported separately and may overlap, so they should not be added together as a precise count of unique workers.
The figures show the scale of the human workforce required to support the two businesses, while also illustrating why annual participation and monthly activity must be distinguished.
Delivery workforce at a glance
| Metric | Reported figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Annual delivery partners in FY2025–26 | 31 lakh | People who delivered through Zomato or Blinkit at some point during the financial year |
| Annual growth | 57% | Increase compared with the previous financial year |
| Monthly active food-delivery partners, April–June 2026 | Approximately 6.38 lakh | Average monthly activity in food delivery |
| Monthly active quick-commerce partners, April–June 2026 | Approximately 5.21 lakh | Average monthly activity in quick commerce |
| Drone-delivery rollout | None announced | Goyal’s comment describes a future possibility |
Source: Eternal company figures reported by Gadgets Now and India Today. Annual participation and monthly activity are different measures.
The scale of the workforce explains why labour availability is strategically important for delivery platforms. They need enough people to meet demand during busy periods, cover different neighbourhoods and maintain service across changing weather and traffic conditions.
However, the current figures do not demonstrate that Eternal is facing an immediate, company-wide shortage of delivery workers. Goyal described a possible future scenario rather than announcing a present operational problem.
Why Delivery Platforms Might Consider Drones
Drone delivery could provide an alternative for selected types of transportation, particularly when packages need to travel between fixed locations or across routes that are difficult to cover quickly by road.
A drone can potentially move a small package between two designated points without being affected by road traffic in the same way as a motorcycle or car. This may be useful for certain deliveries involving warehouses, dark stores, distribution centres, campuses or other locations with suitable landing and collection facilities.
For a company such as Eternal, the potential benefit would depend on whether drone operations could meet customer needs at an acceptable cost while maintaining reliability and safety.
The technology is not automatically cheaper than human delivery. Drone fleets require aircraft, maintenance, batteries, charging infrastructure, monitoring systems, trained operators and suitable facilities for package handovers. Regulatory compliance and insurance can add further costs.
Drones are also constrained by payload capacity, range and weather. Heavy orders, large grocery baskets and deliveries to buildings without suitable collection points may remain difficult to automate.
The technology is therefore more likely to be useful for particular routes and delivery types than as a universal replacement for riders.
Can Drones Handle Food and Grocery Deliveries in India?
Drone-based logistics has been explored in India, but mainstream food delivery through drones remains limited.
Companies have tested drones for transporting medical supplies, parcels and other lightweight items. Some logistics operators have developed systems in which drones carry packages to designated hubs, where ground-based workers or robots complete the remaining journey.
This hub-based approach can be more practical than attempting to land a drone at every customer’s home. In dense urban areas, buildings, overhead wires, narrow streets and limited open space can make direct delivery difficult.
Food and grocery delivery also presents additional operational challenges. Packages must be secured during flight, and temperature-sensitive items may require suitable handling. A drone that carries a small restaurant order may not be able to transport a large grocery basket or multiple bulky items.
Weather is another constraint. Strong winds, heavy rain and other adverse conditions can affect flight safety and reliability, particularly during India’s monsoon season.
For these reasons, a drone-based system would need to be designed around specific routes, package types and collection points. It would also need to work within the applicable aviation regulations and local operating permissions.
Why the Final Delivery Stage Still Matters
Even if a drone can transport an order quickly between two locations, the delivery is not complete until the customer receives it.
Human delivery partners perform several tasks beyond transportation. They collect orders from restaurants or stores, navigate local streets, locate buildings, communicate with customers and complete handovers.
A drone may be able to deliver a package to a designated landing zone, but it cannot necessarily navigate a residential building, enter a crowded apartment complex or resolve every problem that arises during a delivery.
One possible model would use drones for part of the journey and retain people for the final stage. A drone could transport an order from a central facility to a neighbourhood hub, where a rider or another delivery system would take it to the customer.
Such a model could reduce travel time on selected routes, but its economics would depend on the cost of operating the drone network and transferring packages between systems.
It would also introduce new coordination requirements. Companies would need to ensure that packages are tracked correctly, deliveries remain secure and customers can collect orders without unnecessary delays.
Zomato’s Earlier Drone Experiments
Zomato has explored drone technology before. In 2019, the company acquired TechEagle Innovations, a drone startup, as part of its efforts to investigate the use of drones in food delivery.
The experiments explored the possibility of using drones to transport food, including tests involving hybrid drone technology. However, those efforts did not develop into a widely available customer-facing drone-delivery service.
The earlier work demonstrates that the concept is not entirely new to the company. Nevertheless, past experiments should not be confused with a current commercial programme.
Technology, regulation and the economics of drone operations have evolved since those early trials. A new deployment would still require a fresh assessment of operational feasibility, cost, safety and customer demand.
Eternal has not announced a new drone-delivery programme in response to Goyal’s latest remarks. Any future rollout would need further confirmation from the company.
The Debate Over Gig Jobs and Better Employment
Goyal’s comments also touch on a wider debate about the future of work in India.
Food delivery and quick commerce have created opportunities for people to earn money through flexible arrangements. Delivery partners can often choose when to work, making the model attractive to some students, people seeking supplementary income and workers who prefer not to follow a conventional employment schedule.
However, the model also raises questions about earnings stability, working conditions, insurance, benefits and the availability of long-term career progression.
The annual number of delivery partners reported by Eternal illustrates the scale of participation in this sector. But the figure alone does not reveal how much each person earns, how many hours they work or whether delivery income is their primary source of livelihood.
Goyal’s statement that India needs better jobs indicates that he does not see an economy in which everyone becomes a delivery worker as the desired outcome. His comments instead present drones as a potential response if human labour becomes insufficient for the task.
Automation can create productivity gains, but its employment effects depend on how companies introduce the technology and how workers transition into other roles. Drone operations themselves require people for maintenance, supervision, logistics coordination and safety management, although these roles may involve different skills and employ fewer workers than a fully human-operated delivery network.
The central question is not only whether drones can deliver orders, but also how technology can improve service efficiency while supporting a broader range of employment opportunities.
What Drone Delivery Could Mean for Eternal’s Business
If Eternal eventually introduces drone delivery, the company would need to assess the economics against its existing rider-based model.
The comparison would include the cost of equipment, energy, maintenance, operators, insurance and infrastructure, alongside the cost of employing or contracting human delivery partners. The calculation would also need to account for the number of successful deliveries per hour, weather-related downtime and the cost of moving packages between drone hubs and customers.
Drones could be useful where they reduce travel time or connect locations that are difficult to serve efficiently by road. But they may not be economical for short trips in dense neighbourhoods where a motorcycle rider can collect an order and deliver it directly.
The business case may therefore vary by city, route and order type. A drone network designed for fixed transfers between facilities could have different costs and operational requirements from one intended to deliver food directly to individual households.
For now, Eternal’s priority remains operating its existing delivery businesses. Goyal’s comments indicate that the company is open to considering alternative technology if labour availability becomes a constraint, but they do not establish a timeline or investment commitment.
What Happens Next?
The immediate question is whether Eternal provides further details about drone delivery in future statements or operational announcements. Until then, the comments should be treated as a view about a possible long-term direction rather than a confirmed change in the company’s delivery network.
Any concrete move would need to address aircraft capacity, route planning, safety systems, operating permissions and the process for transferring packages to customers. The company would also need to determine where drones offer a meaningful advantage over existing delivery methods.
For the wider industry, the development is another indication that delivery platforms are considering how automation could fit into their operations. The extent of adoption will depend on the cost and reliability of the technology, regulatory requirements and the availability of suitable use cases.
The Bigger Picture
The possibility of drone delivery highlights the relationship between automation, labour availability and the economics of convenience. Companies such as Zomato and Blinkit depend on large delivery networks, but they must also maintain reliable service as demand, workforce participation and operating conditions change. Drones could eventually provide another tool for selected logistics tasks, although technical and regulatory limitations make a complete replacement of human delivery workers unlikely in the near term.
The employment question is equally important. Goyal’s comments place the prospect of automation within a broader discussion about creating better jobs rather than simply expanding the number of people engaged in delivery work. Whether that transition benefits workers will depend on how technology is deployed, whether new opportunities emerge and how effectively workers can access them.
Looking Ahead
Eternal has not announced a new drone-delivery launch, so the next meaningful development would be a concrete plan identifying the locations, routes, investment and operational model for any trial. Evidence that drones can deliver packages reliably and economically would be necessary before the technology could become a larger part of the company’s network. Regulatory approval and the ability to coordinate drone transport with the final delivery stage will also influence whether the idea moves beyond experimentation.
For now, delivery riders remain central to Zomato and Blinkit’s operations. Goyal’s remarks describe drones as a potential response to a future shortage of workers, not an immediate replacement strategy. The broader takeaway is that India’s delivery industry may combine human labour with automation over time, while the challenge of creating better and more sustainable employment opportunities remains unresolved.
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