Adani Group To Enter UPI, Credit Card Business: Report
The Indian multinational conglomerate Adani Group is reportedly venturing into the e-commerce and payments sectors as it develops a digital company to compete with major players such as Google and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, reported Financial Times.
According to reports, the group”s expansion plans involve seeking a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) license and negotiating a co-branded Adani credit card with banks.
Adani”s entry into these markets will leverage India”s digital public infrastructure, including the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and UPI, both of which attract hundreds of millions of consumers monthly. If successful, these services will be accessible through Adani One, the company”s consumer app launched in 2022, which currently offers travel- services.
The conglomerate aims to first target its existing clientele, claimed to be hundreds of millions of travellers using its airports and customers of its gas and electricity services, according to the Financial Times. This strategy reportedly involves loyalty points that can be earned through bill payments or duty-free purchases and used for online shopping. Additionally, Adani plans to integrate content from NDTV into its app later this year, reported FT.
These ambitious plans come as Gautam Adani, the billionaire founder of the group, seeks to diversify into fast-growing consumer markets while recovering from controversies. Last year, US-based Hindenburg Research accused Adani of fraud and market manipulation, leading to a $150 billion drop in the company”s market value and intense scrutiny from the political opposition. Adani”s businesses have since rebounded, recovering nearly all the losses in their stock value.
More recently, nearly 21 international organisations sought CJI DY Chandrachud and the Supreme Court’s intervention to speed up the case filed by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence investigating Adani Group firms for allegedly selling low-quality coal as high-value fuel to the government-owned power utility in Tamil Nadu. The OCCRP report stated that while Adani Group made huge profits, it caused great harm to the environment; however, Adani Group has denied all allegations.
