The Indian government has rejected
Flipkart’s proposal to enter the food retail business in a setback for Walmart, which owns the majority of the Indian e-commerce firm and which recently counted its
business in Asia’s third-largest economy as one of the worst impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic.
Flipkart’s proposed food retail business, called Flipkart FarmerMart, cannot be structured on a 100% foreign direct investment, the Indian agency said. Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer at Flipkart, told TechCrunch that the company was evaluating the agency’s response and intended to re-apply.
Several e-commerce and grocery firms in India, including
Amazon, Zomato, and
Grofers, have previously secured approval from New Delhi, which earlier permitted 100% foreign direct investment in food and a handful of other sectors, for entering the food retail business.
