Swiggy goes the green way; delivers 1.5 M orders a month on cycles

Swiggy, the foodtech delivery startup, announced that it has completed over 1.5 million orders a month on cycles by a fleet of close to 10,000 partners, as the Bengaluru-based unicorn continues its push to increase the adoption of eco-friendly modes of transport.

Swiggy, which announced in 2017 that it would add mechanical cycles to its fleet, said these 1.5 million cycle rides have been completed in over 54 cities, with the most number of cyclists seen in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Swiggy stated that close to 20 percent of these delivery partners are present in Tier II and Tier III cities like Surat, Guwahati, Lucknow, and Belgaum.

Also read: Swiggy does a Dunzo, goes beyond food delivery with Swiggy Stores

Srivats TS, VP, Marketing, Swiggy said in a press statement,

"A couple of years back, we initiated concerted efforts to make millions of our deliveries more sustainable for the environment... With the future heading towards more eco-friendly modes of transport, cycle and EV logistics will be the next game changer in food-tech and Swiggy wants to be at the forefront of driving that change.”

Swiggy, which announced that it is piloting the use of electric vehicles (EV) in 10 cities across the country, said it is currently testing EVs from several logistic providers and encouraging the adoption of EVs by its delivery partners.

In its press statement, the company noted the positive benefits of EV adoption, including an up to 40 percent drop in the running cost of the vehicles, which would result in higher payouts for its partners who own the said EVs.

Last year, Swiggy’s delivery partners in cities like Delhi and Lucknow carried out deliveries on e-rickshaws. Swiggy currently claims to be doing millions orders each month with a fleet of 1.7 lakh delivery partners across 120 cities.

Also read: The future is electric: how bike-sharing and rental startups are trying to crack unit economics