28 - 03 - 2026

Cricket fever leads to surge in dine-out bookings; biryani orders surge during Eid

Our Correspondent
Mumbai, March 28, 2026

As the Indian Premier League (IPL) season got underway, Swiggy reported a 31 per cent surge in dine out bookings compared with the opening day of the previous season, a testimony of how cricket continues to drive India’s appetite for dining out.

Restaurants offering live screenings saw a 22.4 per cent rise in bookings for the 7 pm slot when the match began, with Bengaluru recording a 21 per cent surge in reservations and collective savings of ₹96 lakh through Swiggy Dineout. Mumbai followed the next day with savings of more than ₹63 lakh as the cricket fever shifted to western part of the country, Swiggy said in a statement.

The highest individual spend came in from Bengaluru, where a customer shelled out ₹1.19 lakh on the opening night, while group bookings rose sharply with one party of 30 marking the largest single reservation. Casual dining restaurants drew the highest numbers, but pubs and lounges saw the fastest growth, cementing their place as cricket hotspots.

In March, the festive calendar added momentum. During Navratri between March 19 and 27, Swiggy recorded a 25 per cent growth in orders compared with April 2025, with demand peaking on March 22 at 8:06 pm when 4,800 orders were placed in a single minute. Sabudana Khichdi emerged as the fasting favourite with 222 orders every hour, followed by Sabudana Vada and the traditional Vrat Thali.

Bengaluru, Delhi and Gurgaon led the metros, while Bareilly, Bhopal and Dehradun topped emerging markets. One Delhi customer spent ₹11,980 on a lavish Navratri spread of thalis and masala chaas, underscoring how digital platforms have become central to family feasts.

Eid al-Fitr on March 21 was dominated by biryani, with more than 200 orders placed every minute nationwide. Gulab Jamun and Choco Lava Cake added sweetness to the celebrations, with gulab jamun alone clocking 11 orders per minute. A Noida customer placed the country’s largest Eid order worth ₹38,165, while in Mumbai a single biryani order for 15 people cost ₹15,866.

Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi saw the highest volumes, but cities like Thiruvananthapuram, Surat and Mangaluru also registered strong activity, while Shillong, Agartala and Dibrugarh led smaller markets.

Between February 28 and March 8, during the time of Holi, Swiggy delivered 5,764 specials across 1,381 long-distance trains, with samosa, lassi and pyaaz kachori forming the festive trinity. Jaipur stood out with every eighth order being a Holi special, while the Kerala Express alone accounted for 780 deliveries, showing how the celebration stretched across regions. A record single order of 122 items was ordered aboard Indore–Amritsar Express.