Business clashes are very common in a growing economy like that of India. Amazon.com Inc. has begun making forays into everything from grocery delivery and insurance to drugs in India, setting up a monumental clash with Mukesh Ambani’s hard-charging Jio Platforms. The US giant is fanning out at a pace not seen elsewhere in the world. Amazon is now delivering prescription and over-the-counter medicines and herbal remedies in Bangalore. It started last month selling car and motorbike insurance -- a first for the Seattle-based online giant -- claiming to finalize policies in under two minutes without paperwork. It piloted a restaurant delivery service to Prime subscribers in parts of Bangalore last year. And it’s even reportedly unveiling wealth management services this year.
Reliance buys stake in Netmeds for Rs 620 crore
Those eclectic choices coincide with a similarly rapid-fire expansion by Jio’s parent, Reliance Industries Ltd. The energy-to-retail amalgamation run by Ambani, one of the world’s richest men, scored more than $20 billion of investment in just months from backers including Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to create an Indian internet behemoth. On Wednesday, Reliance’s retail unit announced it had acquired a majority stake in a top e-pharmacy Netmeds. And it’s preparing to add a suite of financial products and services including insurance, brokering and mutual funds.
Indian automakers must try to reduce royalty payments to foreign parent companies: Commerce Min
“This is going to be one fierce battle," said Satish Meena, senior forecast analyst at Forrester Research Inc. “Amazon and Reliance want to meet a person’s every need from online retail to financial services to entertainment. It’s a fight for the household’s spending." Jeff Bezos regards India as a key frontier for Amazon, particularly after failing to break into China. Now he faces a homegrown champion backed by some of his fiercest US rivals.