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What Walmart-Flipkart deal could mean for e-commerce in India

Policy direction for domestic e-commerce regulations could change. Will the dominance of online retail by foreign companies be liberalised or curtailed? Watch this space.

Published Tue, May 15, 2018 · 09:50 PM

Walmart

THE world witnessed its biggest e-commerce deal when the American retail giant, Walmart, announced the acquisition of a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart, India's major online retail platform. The acquisition, at a value of US$16 billion, is reportedly the largest buyout by Walmart in online retail space. Apart from the large financial size of the acquisition, the deal fundamentally changes the competitive character of India's e-commerce market.

Both Walmart and Amazon had been eyeing Flipkart to consolidate th…