India’s Adani Group, a major player in the energy and infrastructure industries, is reportedly planning to enter the digital payments and e-commerce sectors. Analysts view this move as a strategic move to broaden its business interests and contend with other prominent market players, including Reliance, Amazon, Flipkart, and PhonePe.
According to a report, Adani is exploring the possibility of obtaining a license to operate on India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Additionally, they are in the process of finalising plans for a co-branded credit card in collaboration with banks. UPI has emerged as the preferred digital payments network among Indians for online transactions.
Adani, one of India’s top conglomerates, has previously demonstrated an interest in digital offerings. In 2022, the company introduced Adani One, a consumer app that offers travel tickets. Gautam Adani, the firm’s CEO, recently mentioned potential partnerships with Uber following a visit from Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to India. 
Eltrys reports that the conglomerate plans to launch online shopping services via the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform.
India’s retail market, valued at $1.27 trillion by next year, is a significant factor to consider, as highlighted by analysts at Bernstein. Reliance Retail is the operator of the nation’s largest retail chain, and it successfully raised capital last year with a valuation of approximately $100 billion.
Analysts at Bernstein predict that Flipkart, the dominant player in the Indian e-commerce market, will contribute significantly to the country’s retail sales next year. Flipkart, a leading e-commerce company, recently received a significant boost with a $350 million investment from Google. This new funding further solidifies Flipkart’s position in the market and highlights the confidence that industry leaders have in its potential for growth and success. Amazon, on the other hand, intends to invest approximately $3 billion in its Indian e-commerce venture in the coming years.
Walmart’s PhonePe and Google Pay are at the forefront of the mobile payments market in India. Combined, they handle a staggering 86% of all payments on the UPI network, processing a mind-boggling 12 billion transactions every month. Google and Walmart’s increasing control over the country’s mobile payments market has raised concerns among competitors and government bodies. However, regulators do not currently have any intentions to intervene.
Adani payment services
A report from FT indicates that Adani Group is preparing to introduce its payment services via Adani One. With its new products, the company intends to target its existing customer base of millions of users.
Adani’s foray into the consumer market comes after a challenging year marred by allegations of market manipulation and fraud by U.S. short seller Hindenburg Research. Despite Adani’s denial of any wrongdoing, the reports from the research firm had a significant impact on the group’s listed stocks, resulting in a loss of $150 billion in value.
