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The
energy and telecoms conglomerate, which already runs retail
stores, has announced plans to diversify into e-commerce at a
time when India's new foreign investment curbs have dealt a blow
to Amazon.com Inc and Walmart's Flipkart.
The investment announcements also come as a boost for the
state's chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, who has in recent weeks
rallied regional parties and the main opposition Congress to
forge an alliance to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in
upcoming elections, which must be held by May.
Ambani's so-called "new commerce" venture aims to connect small
merchants with his retail network and warehouses, helping them
better manage their inventory. It already has more than 500
retail stores in the state, selling everything from clothes to
groceries, and the new plan would "increase manifold" its
warehouse space in the next 24 months in West Bengal, he said.
The new e-commerce platform "will bring win-win benefits to
consumers, retailers and producers" and help 30 million small
shopkeepers, Ambani said.
The billionaire businessman has been more vocal about his
e-commerce plans after India in December imposed new
restrictions on how foreign companies operate in the e-commerce
sector. The new rules, which kicked in on Feb. 1, have disrupted
product listings on Amazon.com's India website.
Addressing a business summit in West Bengal's Kolkata city,
Ambani also said he plans to expand the reach of his telecom
services in the state and swiftly open a data centre which would
be "as good as the ones in Silicon Valley".
"There is no area of the economy, governance or life which is
untouched by the revolutionary potential of digital
technologies," Ambani said.
($1 = 71.4050 Indian rupees)
(Editing by Aditya Kalra)
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