Walmart’s Flipkart To Appeal Rejection Of Indian Retail License

Behemoth U.S.-based companies continue to encounter pushback from foreign business groups and governments against their expansion plans.

This time around, the Indian government has rejected Walmart’s plans to gain a retail license for food through its eCommerce subsidiary, Flipkart. The company reportedly plans to re-apply.

The Times of India reported today (June 1) that India’s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has rejected Flipkart’s proposal to sell food products through online and mobile platforms, almost a year after it filed the application. The move is a setback for Flipkart, which aimed to buy directly from Indian farms.

“We are evaluating the department’s response and intend to re-apply as we look to continue making a significant impact on small businesses and communities in India,” Flipkart said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.

If Flipkart is given the green light, it would vie against with Amazon’s India unit, Alibaba-backed BigBasket, SoftBank-backed Grofers and Reliance Industries Ltd’s recently launched JioMart.

As reported by PYMNTS, shopping portal JioMart was launched just days after Facebook said it would invest $5.7 million in that Indian subsidiary of Reliance.

JioMart is controlled by the billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance. It was launched soon after the announcement of his company’s deal with Facebook. Ambani said the new partnership would make it easier for residents to digitally pay millions of mom-and-pop stores in India.

To add to Flipkart’s challenges, a group of Indian retailers reportedly appealed a court order that put a hold on an antitrust probe of that company and Amazon on hold.