Anjalli Ravi Kumar

Every day across India, women are entering parts of the urban workforce where they were once almost entirely absent. Some are navigating city streets on two-wheelers for the first time. Some are learning to use digital maps independently. Some are balancing delivery shifts between college classes or caregiving responsibilities. For years, delivery and logistics work was rarely imagined as a livelihood opportunity for women, but today, that perception is slowly beginning to change.

India’s gig economy is a fast-growing part of the country’s broader digital ecosystem growth story. From food delivery and quick commerce to ride-sharing, platform workers support on-demand services that underpin everyday urban life. The Economic Survey 2025-26 notes that the gig economy, encompassing delivery, ridesharing, and freelancing, has seen structural growth, transitioning informal earning opportunities into platform-ecosystem-integrated roles.

When was the last time you spotted a woman in a delivery jacket navigating your residential complex with a food or grocery order and a phone in her hand? Women (Pixabay) If you are drawing a blank, you are not alone. That absence is reflected in numbers.