Walmart Inc.’s, Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart said on Monday, that it would apply yet again for a food retail license in India post reports said its earlier proposal was not approved by the government last week.
According to, India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), they last week did not approve Flipkart’s manifesto to trade food products through online medium and mobile platforms, sources said.
“We are assessing the department’s reply and willing to re-apply as we look to continue making a significant impact on small businesses and communities in India,” the company said in a statement.
Flipkart also assured, if they get the approvals, they would give in a competition to Amazon.com Inc’s India unit, Alibaba-backed BigBasket, SoftBank-backed Grofers, and Reliance Industries Ltd’s recently launched JioMart. As, the government permits 100% foreign direct investment in food retail for food produced and manufactured in India.
It was only a year back, that, the company had set up a new local entity known by the name – Flipkart Farmermart – in order to pay keen attention on food retail in India. It had also applied for pre-requisite licences from the government. Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, back in that time said, “The move is an important part of the company’s efforts to boost Indian agriculture as well as food processing industry in the country”.
The grocery segment has observed a considerable amount of growth amid the coronavirus ongoing pandemic. Many people switched to e-commerce websites like Grofers, BigBasket and Amazon India for their grocery shopping during the lockdown in order to practise social distancing.