Blinkit, Zepto resume operations in Maharashtra after FDA licence clearance

Blinkit and Zepto resume operations at closed facilities in Maharashtra after securing food safety licences and complying with corrective actions ordered by the FDA

Quick commerce players Blinkit and Zepto have managed to restart operations from their recently closed centres by the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration.

 

Zomato's quick commerce arm, Blinkit, has secured the required licence to restart operations at its Balewadi dark store in Pune. Operations were paused last week after the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked the company to shut down the dark store as it had been storing, distributing and selling food items without a licence.

 

Responding to Business Standard queries, a Blinkit spokesperson said, “We are adhering to all food safety regulations and will continue to strengthen our internal protocols. One of our dark stores in Pune that had to pause operations has also renewed its licence now.”

 

Earlier, a Maharashtra FDA official told this newspaper that the state authority had sent a letter to Blinkit and asked it not to operate the dark store until the required documents were submitted and a licence was granted. “Blinkit had submitted some documents and we had asked them to modify some documents and submit them again,” Suresh Annapurna, Joint Commissioner at Maharashtra FDA, Pune region, had said. During the inspection, officials also identified improper food storage conditions. 

 

Along with Blinkit, quick commerce player Zepto also received regulatory clearance to resume operations at its Dharavi store in Mumbai last week.

 

“The revocation was issued by the Hon’ble Food Safety Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration, following a detailed re-inspection process and submission of a compliance report that demonstrated necessary corrective actions had been implemented. The appeal filed by Zepto was heard on 13 June 2025,” the company said in a statement.

 

The FDA had suspended the food business licence of the company following a surprise inspection at its Dharavi facility. The inspection raised several concerns about food safety and hygiene, including fungal growth on certain food articles, improper maintenance of cold storage temperatures, lack of clear separation between expired and valid stock, food products stored directly on the ground, wet and dirty floors, and the storage of food items near clogged and stagnant water.