Food delivery platforms support 1.37 million jobs in FY24, grow 12.3% annually: NCAER

India’s food delivery platform sector employed an estimated 1.37 million workers in FY24 and is expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 12.3 percent, significantly outpacing overall employment growth in the economy, according to a new report by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).

The Delhi-based think tank noted that direct employment in the sector rose from 1.08 million workers in FY22 to 1.37 million in FY24, even as its share of India’s total workforce remained steady at 0.2 percent over the period. By comparison, all-India employment grew at a CAGR of 7.9 percent, underscoring the sector’s faster pace of expansion. The findings are detailed in NCAER’s report titled Impact of food delivery platform sector on the Indian economy.

The report situates food delivery platforms within India’s broader gig economy, which Niti Aayog estimates employed 7.7 million workers in FY21, with the total gig workforce projected to rise to 23.5 million by FY30. NCAER’s study attempts to formally define food delivery as a distinct economic sector by mapping its entire value chain, from platform development and payment gateways to restaurants and last-mile logistics, an area not currently captured in India’s official statistical classifications.

In terms of economic impact, NCAER said the food delivery platform sector has the seventh-highest output multiplier and the second-highest employment multiplier among services sectors, ranking only behind hotels and restaurants. The employment multiplier stood at 3.41 in FY22 and 3.03 in FY24, implying that for every ₹10 lakh of output generated by food delivery platforms, roughly three additional jobs are created elsewhere in the economy.

The sector’s output has scaled rapidly over the past two years. NCAER estimates that the gross value of output (GVO) nearly doubled from ₹61,271 crore in FY22 to ₹1.2 trillion in FY24, increasing its share in national output from 0.14 percent to 0.21 percent. In FY24, food delivery platforms accounted for 0.5 percent of services GVO. Over the same period, gross value added (GVA) rose from ₹24,315 crore to ₹47,588 crore, lifting its share of India’s total GVA from 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent.

Between FY22 and FY24, the sector’s GVO and GVA grew at CAGRs of 17.1 percent and 16.9 percent, respectively, far exceeding the corresponding all-India growth rates of 8.7 percent for GVO and 7.9 percent for GVA, the report noted.

The study also highlighted the sector’s fiscal contribution. The tax multiplier was estimated at 0.04, meaning output worth ₹10 lakh generated around ₹40,000 in indirect taxes in FY22. With indirect taxes accounting for 4.7 percent of the sector’s GVA, NCAER said the total indirect tax revenue generated through the sector’s broader economic linkages is nearly double the taxes directly attributable to food delivery platforms themselves.

On external linkages, the report found that for every ₹10 lakh of output generated on food delivery platforms, the total output created across the economy amounts to ₹20.5 lakh, underscoring the sector’s growing role as a driver of jobs, output and tax revenues within India’s services economy.