Reliance has already overshadowed many telecoms and entertainment sectors in India, with Jio and its enormous ecosystem. The company now plans to enter and disrupt the e-commerce sector as well.
At an investment conference Reliance chairman, Mukesh Ambani announced that the company would be launching a new e-commerce platform to “empower and enrich” the small retailers and shopkeepers of the country.
Anil Ambani also said that the online retailer would be partnered with the Jio Telecom Services and Reliance Retail: A large physical retail service that has approx 10,000 outlets in India.
While there is not much information on the upcoming initiative, Bloomberg reports that the platform will likely be launched within 12 to 18 months, across the country. And the first Indian city would probably be Gujarat (the home-state of Ambani). Meanwhile, trails regarding the company’s venture are ongoing in six other Indian cities including Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
This comes just after the Indian government announced new rules regarding e-commerce websites. Under which, foreign e-retailers Amazon are forbidden from selling products via companies in which they own equity. Also, it prohibits e-retailers from pushing merchants to sell exclusively through their platforms. Many analysts have said that the government’s step will mostly benefit local retailers.
“India’s data must be controlled and owned by Indian people — and not by corporates, especially global corporations. We will have to migrate the control and ownership of Indian data back to India,” said Ambani at the Gujrat event via Economic Times.
