Tata Digital’s BigBasket is cutting back its operating spread and concentrating on roughly 40 profitable cities as new chief executive Amit Nanda begins a sharper profitability-led reset of the online grocery business. The company had earlier operated across nearly 76 markets, but the revised plan puts density, customer economics and execution discipline ahead of broad geographic coverage.
Nanda, a former Amazon India executive, took charge after founder Hari Menon stepped down as chief executive in June. The transition marked one of the most significant leadership changes inside Tata Digital’s consumer internet portfolio, with Menon remaining on the board. Nanda’s immediate mandate is centered on improving the economics of BigBasket’s rapid delivery business at a time when quick commerce competition has intensified across urban India.
The company is expected to focus on larger, denser cities where order volumes, delivery routing and assortment planning can support stronger unit economics. BigBasket’s strategic levers under the new operating plan include customer selection, pricing discipline and assortment optimization. The business is also shifting away from a founder-led operating style toward a more execution-heavy professional management model.
BigBasket’s reset follows a difficult competitive cycle. The company was once India’s leading online grocer through scheduled deliveries, but rapid-delivery rivals accelerated consumer migration toward instant grocery ordering. BigBasket fully pivoted toward quick commerce in 2024, but that shift came after Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto had already expanded aggressively. Amazon and Flipkart have also increased activity in quick commerce, adding pressure to the category’s margins and customer acquisition costs.
The Tata-owned platform has also been reshaping its senior leadership bench. Recent moves include the appointment of Arpit Jaiswal as chief growth officer, the elevation of Keshav Kumar as chief product and technology officer, and the earlier appointment of Manish Bajoria as chief financial officer. The operating reset now places Nanda at the center of BigBasket’s attempt to convert brand trust, Tata backing, private-label strength and grocery supply-chain experience into a more sustainable quick-commerce model.
