India, Aug. 4 -- The sizzler is back on the table - steamy hot and tantalising - much like India's $55 Bn food delivery market that's just rolled into the second course of a raging discount war.

From a clash of two titans - Swiggy and Zomato - that together control 90% of the space, the war has evolved into a tripartite conflict. This time, it's a face-off between the aggregators and state-backed ONDC, which is up for a big bite of the market pie, with restaurants revving up on Rapido to lead the charge.

It was not a sudden flareup, though. The conflict between the Big Two has been simmering for some time with their margins shrinking, and an era of slowed growth kicking off following a sharp decline in user base last year that made deli...