What’s holding up a Swiggy-Zomato merger?

Why read this story?

Editor's note: There shouldn’t be any ambiguity about this. This story in particular is an exploration on the subject of consolidation, which for the most part has been playing out in India’s foodtech business.  For almost the whole of last year, there have been constant rumours and reports of constant conversations between Zomato, one of the oldest foodtech companies in India, going back almost a decade, and Swiggy, the Bengaluru-based delivery startup, which for the last five years or so has been the country’s most promising food delivery company. For those of you who haven’t kept up with the sector, let’s sum up the details. Zomato and Swiggy have been chatting with each other about a merger. Talks have been on, off, on and off. But constant. And while this is something that is acknowledged in private, publicly both companies have denied any merger talks. It isn’t rocket science to understand the allure for the merger. There is not a single foodtech company in India that makes money. The pain point is simple. Last-mile delivery is a notoriously difficult problem to solve …