Ekart, the logistics business operated by Flipkart-owned Instakart Services, has nearly reached break-even after sharply reducing its losses in the financial year ended March 2026. The company reported a net loss of ₹26 crore in FY26, down 98.3% from ₹1,508 crore in FY25. The improvement came as total expenses declined 13% year-on-year to ₹13,638 crore, helping offset pressure from lower revenue.
However, the financial improvement did not come with higher operating revenue. Instakart Services reported revenue from contracts with customers of ₹13,194 crore, down 4.2% from ₹13,779 crore a year earlier. Its logistics, transportation and shipping business recorded a steep decline in revenue, while warehousing services expanded. The results highlight Ekart’s effort to improve cost efficiency and diversify its logistics operations as Flipkart continues to focus on profitability and the performance of its broader e-commerce business.
Key Takeaways
- Net loss: Ekart’s operating company, Instakart Services, reduced its FY26 loss to ₹26 crore from ₹1,508 crore in FY25.
- Revenue decline: Revenue from contracts with customers fell 4.2% to ₹13,194 crore.
- Lower expenses: Total expenses decreased 13% to ₹13,638 crore.
- Logistics pressure: Revenue from logistics, transportation and shipping dropped 39.5% to ₹6,419 crore.
- Warehousing growth: Warehousing services revenue increased 44% to ₹2,212 crore.
- Customer concentration: Flipkart contributed ₹9,112 crore, approximately 69% of operating revenue.
- Business expansion: Ekart has been opening its logistics infrastructure to external businesses, including small and medium-sized enterprises and direct-to-consumer brands.
Ekart’s FY26 Financial Results at a Glance
Instakart Services’ latest financial performance shows a significant reduction in losses, supported by lower expenditure. Revenue, however, declined, indicating that cost control rather than top-line expansion was the main driver of the improvement.
| Financial metric | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue from contracts with customers | ₹13,779 crore | ₹13,194 crore |
| Total income | — | ₹13,612 crore |
| Total expenses | ₹15,673 crore | ₹13,638 crore |
| Net loss | ₹1,508 crore | ₹26 crore |
| Year-on-year revenue change | — | -4.2% |
| Year-on-year expense change | — | -13% |
| Year-on-year loss reduction | — | 98.3% |
Source: Inc42’s reporting on Instakart Services’ FY26 financials. Figures are rounded where appropriate.
The loss reduction is particularly striking because the company moved from a substantial annual deficit to a position close to break-even. Nevertheless, the ₹26 crore loss means the company had not yet achieved a full-year net profit.
It is also important to distinguish Instakart Services’ results from those of Flipkart Group as a whole. Ekart is a logistics operation within the wider business ecosystem, while the group’s consolidated results include several other businesses and financial items.
How Did Ekart Reduce Its Loss by 98%?
The largest contributor to the improvement was the reduction in expenses. Total expenditure fell to ₹13,638 crore in FY26 from ₹15,673 crore in FY25, a decrease of approximately ₹2,035 crore.
For a logistics company, expenses include freight, transportation, handling, delivery operations, employee benefits, warehousing, technology and depreciation. These costs can be substantial because the business must move goods across a large geographical area while maintaining delivery capacity and service reliability.
Ekart’s reported expense reductions indicate that the company managed to lower its cost base significantly. However, the available figures do not establish that every reduction came from improved productivity. Lower activity levels, changes in service mix and operational restructuring can also affect expenditure.
Freight and handling costs declined
Freight, handling and servicing expenses fell 17.1% to ₹9,191 crore in FY26 from ₹11,093 crore in the previous financial year.
These expenses represented the largest component of Ekart’s cost structure. Their reduction was therefore an important factor in bringing down the company’s total expenditure.
Logistics businesses can reduce freight costs through route optimisation, improved truck utilisation, more efficient sorting operations, better load planning and fewer unsuccessful delivery attempts. However, the reported figures alone do not identify how much of Ekart’s reduction came from each measure.
The decline in freight expenses also needs to be considered alongside lower revenue in the core logistics business. If fewer or lower-value services are delivered, costs may decline even without a corresponding improvement in efficiency per shipment.
Employee expenses also fell
Employee benefit expenses declined 24.9% to ₹958 crore from ₹1,275 crore in FY25.
The category includes employee-related costs such as salaries, provident fund contributions and gratuity. Lower spending may reflect workforce adjustments, changes in staffing requirements or other operational measures, but the financial figures do not provide enough detail to attribute the decline to a single cause.
For a labour-intensive business, managing employee costs is important, particularly across delivery hubs, warehouses and transportation operations. At the same time, logistics companies must retain enough staff and operational capacity to maintain service quality during periods of high demand.
Why Did Ekart’s Revenue Decline?
Despite the improvement in profitability, revenue from contracts with customers fell 4.2% to ₹13,194 crore. Including finance and other income of ₹418 crore, total income declined 3.9% to ₹13,612 crore.
The decline suggests that the company faced pressure in its existing revenue streams even as it reduced costs. The performance differed across service categories, with the core logistics segment weakening while warehousing expanded.
Flipkart itself contributed ₹9,112 crore, or approximately 69% of Instakart Services’ operating revenue. This makes the relationship with its parent e-commerce ecosystem a major factor in the logistics company’s financial performance.
A large internal customer can provide predictable demand and operational scale. However, heavy dependence on one customer also means that changes in that customer’s logistics requirements, business mix or delivery strategy can materially affect revenue.
Ekart’s opportunity is to grow its external customer base while retaining its role in Flipkart’s fulfilment operations.
Logistics Revenue Falls, but Warehousing Grows
The company’s service-level figures show why the overall revenue trend is more complicated than the headline loss reduction suggests.
| Service category | FY26 revenue | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| Logistics, transportation and shipping | ₹6,419 crore | -39.5% |
| Collection services | ₹510 crore | -68% |
| Warehousing services | ₹2,212 crore | +44% |
Source: Inc42. The figures represent reported revenue categories and may not capture every component of the company’s income.
Logistics, transportation and shipping remained the largest of these reported service categories, contributing approximately ₹6,419 crore. However, revenue from this vertical fell 39.5% year-on-year, making it a major source of pressure on the company’s top line.
Collection services revenue declined 68% to ₹510 crore. In contrast, warehousing services revenue increased 44% to ₹2,212 crore, indicating stronger performance in that segment.
The diverging trends suggest that Ekart’s service mix is changing. The warehousing business may offer opportunities to serve merchants and brands that need storage, inventory management and fulfilment support beyond the Flipkart marketplace.
Still, one year of revenue growth does not establish that warehousing will fully offset declines elsewhere. Future performance will depend on demand, capacity utilisation, pricing and the company’s ability to attract and retain external customers.
Ekart Wants to Expand Beyond Flipkart
Ekart was established as Flipkart’s in-house logistics operation and later became a separate entity. Its services support Flipkart and Myntra, while the company also works with other online sellers, direct-to-consumer brands and retailers.
Opening the network to outside businesses could reduce dependence on the group’s own e-commerce volumes and allow Ekart to earn revenue from a broader customer base.
The company has also been expanding its franchise outlet network. According to Inc42, Ekart had operationalised more than 300 franchise outlets across cities including Surat, Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru, with plans to expand the network to more than 1,000 outlets by the end of 2026.
Such outlets can potentially extend access to logistics services and provide additional points for shipping, collection or other operations, depending on the services offered at each location.
The wider strategy is to use the existing logistics network as a commercial service rather than relying exclusively on shipments generated by Flipkart. That could improve asset utilisation if external demand fills available capacity.
However, serving external customers also requires competitive pricing, reliable delivery performance and the ability to manage different clients’ operational requirements. Ekart will need to demonstrate that expansion can generate profitable business rather than simply increase the volume of shipments handled.
Why Ekart’s Results Matter for Flipkart
The logistics business is an important part of the economics of e-commerce. Delivery, warehousing, returns and shipment handling influence both customer experience and the cost of fulfilling an order.
For Flipkart, a more efficient logistics operation could help control delivery costs, improve fulfilment reliability and support the marketplace’s wider business. Ekart’s results also show how individual subsidiaries can make progress toward financial sustainability even when revenue growth is uneven.
Flipkart Group itself reported FY26 revenue from operations of approximately ₹1.46 lakh crore, up around 18% year-on-year, while its consolidated net loss narrowed only marginally to ₹8,468 crore. The group’s overall performance therefore remains different from Ekart’s near-break-even result.
This distinction is important for investors and industry observers. A logistics subsidiary sharply reducing its loss does not mean the wider e-commerce group has become profitable. Each business has a different cost structure, revenue model and set of financial pressures.
Flipkart’s focus on profitability is also relevant as the company considers its longer-term public-market ambitions. Improving logistics economics can support that objective, but a potential IPO would depend on the financial performance of the broader group and other relevant conditions.
The Bigger Picture
Ekart’s FY26 results illustrate how aggressive cost control can sharply improve a logistics company’s bottom line even when revenue falls. The reduction in freight, handling and employee expenses helped Instakart Services bring its net loss down to ₹26 crore. Yet the steep decline in its core logistics revenue shows that the improvement should not be confused with broad-based growth across the business.
The next challenge is to make the improvement sustainable. Ekart’s expanding warehousing business and efforts to attract external customers could diversify revenue, while its existing network provides a platform for serving sellers and enterprises. Whether those efforts translate into consistent profitability will depend on demand, capacity utilisation and the company’s ability to compete on service quality and price.
Looking Ahead
Ekart will need to show that its cost reductions can be maintained without compromising delivery performance and that revenue from warehousing and external customers can grow enough to offset weakness in other service lines. The company’s franchise expansion and broader logistics offering may help it diversify beyond Flipkart, but the results of these initiatives will become clearer as more financial data becomes available.
For Flipkart, Ekart’s near-break-even result is a positive development within a larger profitability drive. However, the parent group’s financial performance remains the more comprehensive measure of its overall health. Future results will reveal whether logistics efficiencies can support stronger group economics while Ekart builds a more diversified and sustainable business.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How much loss did Ekart report in FY26?
Instakart Services, the company behind Ekart, reported a net loss of ₹26 crore in FY26, compared with ₹1,508 crore in FY25.
2. Why did Ekart’s loss fall by 98%?
The loss narrowed mainly as total expenses declined 13% year-on-year to ₹13,638 crore. Freight, handling and servicing expenses, as well as employee benefit expenses, also fell.
3. Did Ekart’s revenue increase in FY26?
No. Revenue from contracts with customers declined 4.2% to ₹13,194 crore. Warehousing revenue grew, but logistics, transportation and shipping revenue fell sharply.
4. What is Ekart’s relationship with Flipkart?
Ekart is the logistics business operated by Flipkart-owned Instakart Services. It supports Flipkart’s fulfilment needs and also offers services to external sellers and businesses.
5. Is Ekart profitable now?
Not on a full-year net-income basis. It reduced its net loss to ₹26 crore in FY26, bringing it close to break-even but not yet reporting a net profit.
6. Why is Ekart expanding its services to external businesses?
Serving other companies could diversify its revenue, reduce dependence on Flipkart-related volumes and help use its logistics and warehousing infrastructure more efficiently.
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