New Delhi, Oct. 28 -- The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), the government's initiative to give customers a wider choice in the e-commerce space, is gearing up to roll out a new initiative to deliver groceries and other items within 30 minutes to two hours as quick commerce grows in popularity in the country.

The first phase of the project will be facilitated by business-to-business e-commerce startup ElasticRun, Ola and PhonePe's buyer app Pincode, which will use their network of dark stores and delivery fleets to facilitate quick deliveries.

In the past year, quick commerce has emerged as the new consumer favourite, with a greater number of people in the top cities demanding order deliveries within minutes. Investors have fuel...