Quick commerce boom adding 13,000 kg carbon emissions daily in Ahmedabad: Report

The rapid rise of quick commerce services in Ahmedabad, promising delivery of groceries and household items within minutes, is leading to significant fuel consumption and environmental damage, with an estimated 13,000 kg of additional carbon dioxide being released into the city’s atmosphere every day, according to industry estimates and delivery sector sources.

Quick commerce platforms, which expanded rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide fast doorstep delivery of essential items, now operate around 80 dark stores or warehouses across Ahmedabad through five to seven major companies.

According to informed sources, each warehouse employs between 40 and 75 delivery partners, taking the total number of riders in the city to more than 3,000.

These delivery workers collectively fulfil over one lakh orders daily, mostly within a five-kilometre radius of the warehouses, making repeated trips throughout the day to ensure deliveries within 10 minutes.

Experts and delivery sector sources estimate that these operations consume an additional 4,500 litres of petrol daily in Ahmedabad alone, excluding regular e-commerce deliveries.

They argue that while some emergency household purchases may justify rapid delivery, a large proportion of orders are non-essential and result in avoidable two-wheeler trips across the city.

According to experienced delivery partners, nearly 70 to 80% of these delivery rounds could be avoided through better planning and order consolidation.

Environmental experts warn that the impact extends beyond fuel consumption. Since burning one litre of petrol in a two-wheeler emits around 2.4 kg of carbon dioxide, the daily operations of quick commerce platforms are estimated to add nearly 13,000 kg of carbon dioxide to Ahmedabad’s air every day.

In addition to carbon dioxide, vehicle emissions also release pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and PM 2.5 particles, which contribute to air pollution and increase the risk of respiratory and heart diseases.

Experts said the accumulation of greenhouse gases was also contributing to Ahmedabad’s growing “urban heat island” effect, in which cities retain excessive heat due to pollution and dense urbanisation.

Before the rise of quick commerce, conventional e-commerce platforms typically delivered goods in scheduled slots, allowing delivery workers to carry multiple orders in a single trip and significantly reduce fuel usage.

Under the older slot-based system, orders were grouped into delivery windows such as morning, afternoon and evening slots, enabling riders to complete 10 to 20 deliveries in one round across a designated route.

In contrast, quick commerce models often require separate trips for each order, resulting in a sharp increase in vehicle movement and fuel consumption.

Experts suggested that a return to partial slot-based deliveries or improved route planning could help reduce emissions while maintaining convenience for consumers.

Industry observers also pointed to electric vehicles (EVs) as a viable solution to reduce pollution from delivery operations.

While cities such as Delhi and Bengaluru reportedly use EVs for around 35% of deliveries, and companies in Gurugram claim nearly 80% of orders are fulfilled through electric vehicles, Ahmedabad continues to lag behind, with only 5 to 10% of quick commerce deliveries currently being carried out using EVs.