India's Adani Group is considering applying for a license to operate on the country's public digital payments network and is in talks with banks to finalize plans for a co-branded credit card. Financial Times It was reported on Tuesday.
The consumer expansion plans come as billionaire Gautam Adani's ports and power conglomerate looks to spend Rs 6,98,660 crore on infrastructure over the next 10 years.
If approved, the group would enter India's fast-growing digital payments market, competing with incumbents Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe.
According to a Mordor Intelligence report, the Indian payments market is expected to reach Rs 67,74,404 crore by 2029 from Rs 29,737,570 crore in 2024.
According to April data, PhonePe is the largest UPI app in India with a 48.9% market share, followed by Google Pay with a 37.7% share.
The Adani Group is Reuters Request for Comments on the Report.
The group is also reportedly in talks to offer online shopping through the Indian government-backed public e-commerce platform, Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Once finalised, the service will be available through Adani's consumer app, Adani One, which was launched in December 2022, the report added.
The conglomerate is trying to recover from a report published in January 2023 by U.S. short seller Hindenburg that triggered a sell-off of the group's listed shares.
The report accused the group of stock manipulation and the misuse of tax havens, allegations it denies.
A court-appointed committee said in May 2023 that India's market watchdog had “nothing to uncover” in the case, while the Supreme Court said in January this year that no further scrutiny was needed.
So far, four of the seven group companies are above pre-Hinderburg report levels, including Adani Enterprises' intraday recovery on Friday.
The flagship company's shares are currently trading about 4 percent below their pre-report levels.
Published May 28, 2024 05:20 IST
