Tata Digital borrowings jumped 49% in FY26; BigBasket used Rs 6,255 crore in short-term funds to plug cash…

As per the latest business developments, Tata Digital’s consolidated borrowings jumped 48.5 percent to Rs 13,407 crore in FY26, while BigBasket used Rs 6,255.74 crore in short-term funds to meet a cash deficit caused by operational losses, recently filed financial statements and auditor notes show.

Tata Digital’s business covers subsidiaries such as BigBasket, Tata 1mg, Croma and Tata CLiQ.

While Tata Digital’s headline topline and loss figures were disclosed in Tata Sons’ annual report published on July 27, the recently filed statements provide a granular account of its borrowings, liquidity position and the use of short-term funding.

Tata Digital’s performance has additionally been among the points of contention in the widening differences between Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran.

At the February 24 meeting of the Tata Sons board, Noel Tata boosted concerns over the turnaround plans, capital commitments and rising debt associated with funding losses and expansion at newer businesses, including Tata Digital and Air India, and sought a detailed roadmap from Chandrasekaran.

Tata Sons infused Rs 2,970 crore into Tata Digital on March 27, shortly before the end of the financial year, the filings show.

In its FY26 financials, the auditor of Innovative Retail Concepts Pvt Ltd or Bigbasket noted that the firm had not used funds boosted on a short-term basis for long-term purposes “except in the case of short-term funds amounting to Rs 6255.73 crore used to meet the cash deficit due to operational losses”.

Innovative Retail Concepts’ current borrowings (debt repayable in under 12 months) as on March 31, 2026, stood at Rs 7,289.62 crore, including Rs 5,754.83 crore in short-term bank borrowings and a Rs 1,000-crore short-term loan from Tata Capital, the filings show. The corresponding figure for current borrowings at the end of FY25 stood at Rs 3,410.7 crore.

Innovative Retail Concepts ended FY26 with accumulated losses of Rs 10,000.49 crore.

Emails sent to Tata Sons and Tata Digital remained unanswered till the time of publication.

At the Tata Digital group level, total borrowings rose 48.5 percent to Rs 13,407 crore in FY26 from Rs 9,027 crore a year earlier. Current borrowings increased at an even faster pace, rising 67.4 percent to Rs 11,265 crore from Rs 6,731 crore.

Short-term bank loans accounted for Rs 7,976 crore of the group’s current borrowings, the filings show.

The increased borrowing additionally further noted to financing expenses. Tata Digital’s finance costs rose 12.2 percent to Rs 1,683 crore during FY26.

Liquidity remained tight at the end of the year. Tata Digital noted current liabilities of Rs 16,613 crore against current assets of Rs 9,760 crore, leaving it with net current liabilities of Rs 6,853 crore.

Tata Digital recorded accumulated losses of Rs 21,325 crore at the year-end.

Revenues from Operations Climb

Its topline from operations increased 11.5 percent to Rs 35,626 crore in FY26. Its net loss widened 7.9 percent to Rs 4,974 crore from Rs 4,610 crore.

BigBasket continued to account for a large part of the group’s losses. Innovative Retail Concepts’ topline increased 7.2 percent to Rs 8,223 crore in FY26 from Rs 7,673 crore in FY25, while its net loss widened 66 percent to Rs 3,073 crore from Rs 1,851 crore.

Tata 1MG Healthcare Solutions’ topline increased 21 percent to Rs 2,440 crore from Rs 2,017 crore, while its net loss narrowed 9.3 percent to Rs 310 crore from Rs 342 crore.