Adani Group to enter UPI, digital payment, credit card business to compete Google and Reliance: Report

Adani Group is in discussions to enter the e-commerce and payments space as the conglomerate develops a digital company to rival Google and Reliance Industries, owned by Mukesh Ambani, in the world’s most populous country, according to the Financial Times (FT), which cited sources.

The company is now considering seeking for a license to operate on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which is a widely used public digital payments network in India. It is also in negotiations with banks to finalise plans for a co-branded Adani credit card, said FT citing its sources. 

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As per the news report, it is also negotiating to provide online shopping via the Open Network for Digital Commerce, India's rapidly expanding public e-commerce network supported by the government. The digital public infrastructure "stack" in India, which includes ONDC and UPI, is popular among organisations seeking to establish consumer technology firms and draws hundreds of millions of consumers each month.

If approved, the services will be accessible via Adani One, the company's consumer app, which was released in late 2022 and provides travel-related services including hotel and flight reservations.

According to people familiar with the matter, as reported by the Financial Times, the company's e-commerce and payments offerings would first target its current clientele, which they claimed amounted to hundreds of millions of people when accounting for travelers using its airports and customers of its gas and electricity.

"They could, for example, acquire loyalty points through bill payments or duty-free purchases and use them for online shopping, the people said. Targeting existing users in this way would give Adani “a platform to move into much larger areas”, one of the people said. Another added that Adani was planning to add NDTV content to its app this year. However, Adani declined to comment," said FT in its report.

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The plans come as Gautam Adani, the group's politically connected founder, looks to move beyond adverse problems and expand his company into rapidly expanding consumer-facing markets. According to FT's news report, Adani has accumulated a large network of ports, airports, and power plants, making him the second-richest man in Asia.

In the aftermath of a controversy that occurred last year, in which US short seller Hindenburg Research accused Adani of fraud and market manipulation, the company is pushing for consumer rights. Owing to the founder's close relationship with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the claims caused a $150 billion decline in Adani's listed stocks and heightened criticism from opposition figures. 

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Throughout India's current election season, the firm has maintained its prominence. Following a Financial Times investigation last week that claimed Adani had passed off lower-quality coal as more costly, cleaner fuel in sales to a state utility, the opposition threatened to look into the company if elected. Modi has also accused his opponents of obtaining "black money" from Adani.

The group denies any wrongdoing, and the investigation into the Hindenburg claims has not yet been concluded by India's securities regulator. Adani's enterprises, however, have prospered; nearly all of the losses from the previous year have been recovered by the company's shares, Adani Enterprises.

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