Cargill Opens ₹300 Crore Dairy Feed Plant in Punjab, Strengthening India’s Livestock Sector

• Over 1,000 jobs (direct and indirect) created, supporting local livelihoods and economic growth
• With a production capacity of 400,000 tons per year, this will be Cargill’s largest dairy feed plant in South Asia, supporting India’s objective of becoming self-reliant in dairy feed

Underscoring its long-term confidence in India’s livestock sector and to help accelerate growth in Punjab’s dairy industry, Cargill Animal Nutrition & Health today opened a state-of-the-art dairy feed plant in Wazirabad, Punjab (India). Built with an investment of ₹300 crore, the new plant will provide dairy farmers access to world-class feed solutions and deliver science-based dairy nutrition at scale. This expansion marks an important step from Cargill towards making India self-reliant in dairy feed, contributing to the Indian Government’s initiative of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ (Self-Reliant India).

Spread over 15 acres, with an annual production capacity of 400,000 metric tons, the new facility will be Cargill’s largest dairy feed plant in South Asia and second plant in the state of Punjab (after Bhatinda). It will add over 1000 (direct and indirect) jobs, creating livelihood opportunities for the local community and help the company meet rising demand from core dairy markets of Punjab. Products manufactured here will be marketed under the globally renowned brands Provimi and Purina and cater to multiple customer segments including dairy farmers, producers and feed mills.

Strategically located within a high-density dairy region, Cargill’s Wazirabad facility will bring production closer to farming communities in Punjab, one of north India’s most productive dairy belts. It will also give dairy producers access to the latest technology used in the production of a wide range of dairy feed for young animals and milking cows, using a high degree of automation. By enabling consistent availability of safe and quality feed, this plant will support dairy producers improve milk yields, animal health, farmer incomes, and strengthen the entire dairy value chain.

The facility was inaugurated today by Sanjeev Arora, Minister of Industries & Commerce, Punjab, alongside Cargill leadership: “Punjab continues to be a leader in India’s agricultural and dairy landscape, supported by its progressive farmers and strong infrastructure. Investments from global companies like Cargill will further strengthen the state’s industrial ecosystem and create employment opportunities for local communities, supporting rural livelihoods. This clearly reflects growing industry confidence in Punjab as a preferred destination for agri and food sector investments and aligns with our vision of transforming the state into a progressive, prosperous and self-reliant entity,” said Sanjeev Arora, Minister of Industries & Commerce, Punjab speaking at the plant inauguration. He said that the Punjab government will support them with all possible help and make Punjab choicest destination for investors.

“By expanding our manufacturing presence closer to the key dairy regions of Punjab, farmers in the state will have consistent access to high quality and low toxin feed complying with BIS guidelines. This will enhance supply reliability and farm profitability for dairy farmers, besides contributing to local employment, thereby strengthening the state ecosystem,” said Ravinder Balain, President, Cargill India & Senior Managing Director Cargill Animal Nutrition & Health, India, speaking at the plant launch.

India is the world’s largest milk producer for several years and accounts for over a quarter of the global output. Currently, dairy is the largest agricultural product in India, contributing 5% to the national economy and directly employing more than eight crore farmers (National Accounts Statistics). This, coupled with steady growth in dairy consumption, makes availability of high-quality dairy feed critical for the growth of the sector.

Cargill’s latest expansion builds on decades of work with Indian farmers through trusted brands such as Provimi and Purina. Together with the Bathinda plant, the new facility also builds on the ‘Make in India’ agenda by expanding local manufacturing, supporting skill development and economic activity in surrounding communities. Safety, quality, and responsible operations remain foundational to the facility. Designed in alignment with Cargill’s global standards for workplace safety, biosecurity, and product excellence, the plant reflects the company’s commitment to operational integrity and sustainable food systems.

Yummy Bee Secures ₹18 Crore Funding to Fuel Expansion into Mumbai and Bengaluru

Yummy Bee, India’s leading café chain focused on guilt-free indulgence, has successfully raised ₹18 crore in total funding, including ₹11 crore in its most recent round. This capital injection will primarily support the brand’s expansion into Mumbai and Bengaluru as well as establish their base for Consumer Packed Goods (CPG) for the FMCG market, marking a significant milestone in its mission to offer healthier food options nationwide.

Sandeep Jangala, Founder & CEO of Yummy Bee

The funding round saw participation from Mile Deep Capital, a prominent Hyderabad-based VC firm, as well as key investors such as Mohan Krishna, Executive Director at Continental Coffee, Ajitha Challa, Founder and MD, Karafa Coffee and Praveen Jaipuriar, Group CEO of Continental Coffee and former head of marketing at Dabur. These strategic investors bring invaluable expertise and support for Yummy Bee’s aggressive growth plans.

The capital raised will be utilized to expand Yummy Bee’s footprint across key metros, with new outlets planned for Mumbai and Bengaluru. Additionally, Yummy Bee is also expanding its range of Consumer Packed Goods (CPG) for the FMCG market with new products being added such as millet puffs and almond rocks. Funds will also be utilized for channel expansion into both quick commerce and modern trade.

Sandeep Jangala, Founder & CEO of Yummy Bee, expressed his excitement over the new funding:

This investment will allow us to reach more health-conscious individuals across the country, with the goal of making guilt-free indulgence accessible in every major city. We remain committed to offering delicious, nutritious food that doesn’t compromise on taste.

With the new funding, Yummy Bee is targeting an annualized recurring revenue of ₹50 crore by March 2026 and plans to expand to 20 outlets across India by the end of the year. Founded in 2022, Yummy Bee has rapidly gained popularity with its sugar-free, gluten-free, preservative-free menu items, including tacos, millet pizzas, pastas, and signature desserts like Double Chocolate Brownies, Blueberry Cheesecake, and Chocolate Truffle Pastry. The brand currently operates outlets in Jubilee Hills, Kondapur, Kokapet, and Kukatpally in Hyderabad.

About - Yummy Bee:

Yummy Bee, established in 2022 under VLOGS Food Private Limited, is India’s first café chain offering guilt-free, health-conscious food options. Known for its sugar-free, gluten-free, and preservative-free menu, Yummy Bee aims to redefine the café culture in India by combining health, taste, and innovation in every bite. The brand operates outlets in Hyderabad and is set to expand to Mumbai and Bengaluru.

AgNext & SourceTrace partnered to create Food-Safety and Fair-Trade platform for Agriculture and Food Businesses, called TraceNext

Today, amidst lockdowns and growing pandemic, global food value chains stand disrupted across all commodities. Food safety has been a growing global concern that is only set to rise in this covid world. It is in these times that it has become more imperative than ever, to ensure unadulterated and safe food across global food value chains.

As billions worth of food moves through the global food value chains, assessments and traceability of the food remain subjective or non-existent leading to losses in procurement, trade, storage, production and consumption.

Digitization of such value chains towards making food safe, trackable and of desired consumer quality, needs to be accelerated and implemented at a much faster pace than ever.

SourceTrace is a globally leading name in traceability and has already implemented solutions across diverse sectors such as fruits and vegetables, organic cotton, vanilla, aquaculture, flavors and fragrances, spices, honey and more. Working across 28 countries since 2013, SourceTrace’s DATAGREEN platform helps companies track their produce from global locations across all stages while maintaining complete transparency and assurance of quality.

AgNext solves the problem of quality, bringing the best of the technology world for agribusinesses. Using state of art technologies in computer vision, spectroscopy and IoT, AgNext has created the singular platform QUALIX, through which trade quality and safety parameters for multiple commodities could be assessed in a minute, enabling agribusinesses to leapfrog their procurement and operations processes, optimise costs, provide traceability, sharpen and smoothen blockchains and most importantly produce excellent products of highest quality for consumers and ensure fair-trade practices with farmers.

Helping businesses ensure the quality of food right from the Farm Gates to the consumers, AgNext has partnered with key nodal institutions in multiple commodities and has also been working with leading corporates in each of the segments.

By combining their solutions and signing an MoU, AgNext and SourceTrace have created a technology platform, TraceNext, that for the first time in history, can provide complete value chain traceability with an assurance of quality from the Farm Gates to the consumer.

The benefits for such a platform as TraceNext, brings immense value to multiple commodity value chains, ensuring various aspects like

1. Trace food origin and chain of custody
2. Monitor ethical and sustainable practices used in growing the food
3. Complete value chain traceability – from farm to consumer
4. Legal and compliance norms
5. Instant quality testing on trade and safety parameters
6. Instant trade decisions without any delays and dependencies
7. Ensure Blockchain and Fair-Trade practices in commodity supply chains

As per FAO, the value of trade in food is US$ 1.6 trillion per year. The estimated cost of food safety incidents for the economy of the United States is around $7 billion per year. Similarly, food fraud and safety scandals have cost over $8 billion USD every year in APAC alone. The health, sustainability and economic impact of such a solution can not be underestimated.

TraceNext fills that gap, providing a seamless solution catered to agriculture and food businesses that they always desired but never had as a single platform, ensuring complete control over quality and guaranteeing safe food to their consumers.

Venkat Maroju, CEO, SourceTrace said “In the coming years, traceability is going to be the most critical technology to ensure food safety. TraceNext is the only solution that can provide food businesses, regulatory bodies and consumers all the information they need to ensure food safety. It will also change how food businesses and consumers interact and what information is exchanged. We are looking at a complete transformation of the food ecosystem.”

Taranjeet Bhamra, CEO, AgNext said “Leveraging the best of technologies and principles of agriculture practices, we are joining hands to solve the greatest needs of the times, solving issues for farmers, agribusinesses and consumers alike. TraceNext fills the exact gap that is needed for providing a one-stop seamless solution for food origin and quality for effective trade, procurement, production and consumption of food. The potential to transform value chains is limitless.”

Dineout Survey Reveals where People would Like to Eat Post Lockdown

• 
  

  81% diners will prefer digital menus at restaurants in a post-COVID era

  
  


• 
  

  77% people want to dine out while 23% would prefer continuing with delivery/takeaway

  
  


• 
  

  Online payment becomes the most preferred option with 60% votes

  
  

As the world grapples with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, everyday interaction with the outside world - public & retail spaces, restaurants, educational institutions, and even with each other has been reoriented for the sake of personal hygiene and public health. These post-COVID sensibilities are leading to major enduring changes in how the country’s food service industry is expected to operate. Based on a recent consumer survey by India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech platform, Dineout, Indian diners are now ranking safety assurance and premier hygiene as top factors when they choose a restaurant to dine in.

The report published by Dineout saw across 20 cities choosing their priorities while shortlisting a restaurant to dine out in a post-COVID world.

Diner's response to Contactless Dining:

• 
  

  Over 96% demand better waitlist management

  
  


• 
  

  81% consumers would rather scan a QR on their phone to place an order instead of handling physical menus or tablet-based digital menus.

  
  


• 
  

  After a dining experience, 60% prefer seamless wallet-based digital payments over cash/cards

  
  


• 
  

  85% would choose a digital valet over waiting in possibly contaminated public spaces and

  
  


• 
  

  84% would prefer offering digital feedback over physical feedback collection.

  
  

What do people want to eat?

The report also revealed that most of India has been craving Pizza since the lockdown has been implemented, except Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata where their popular & indigenous Biryani recipes reign supreme.

Which restaurants are diners waiting to go to?

• 
  

  77% respondents claimed that they are waiting to dine out with friends and family once the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted

  
  


• 
  

  With Big Chill, Barbeque Nation and Social emerging as favorites in Delhi

  
  


• 
  

  Mumbaikars picked Global Fusion, Poptates and Asia Kitchen

  
  


• 
  

  Bangaloreans miss going to pubs like Toit, Vapour & Barbeque Nation

  
  


• 
  

  Aminia, Arsalan and Momo I Am emerge as the top picks in Kolkata.

  
  


• 
  

  Contrary to popular belief, Delhitties picked Veg over Non-Veg food

  
  


• 
  

  Bangaloreans & Lucknowis would rather have their drinks over food.

  
  

Ankit Mehrotra, Co-Founder & CEO - Dineout said, “The Indian restaurant industry is rapidly transforming before our eyes, and restaurants will have to rethink their daily operations to suit these post-COVID demands of their customers. While demand will return rapidly as millions of Indians are craving their favorite dishes, it’s also crucial to make the necessary changes to restore consumer confidence and trust by rapidly evolving the restaurant’s approach to using technology as means to implement Contactless Dining . These new adaptations will push the envelope of diner convenience, and we believe they are here to stay even after we survive the physical & economic after-effects of the pandemic."

Besides the new parameters for restaurant selection, the factors deciding consumer delight have also seen a major overhaul as hygiene takes precedence. Consumers would prefer that the total number of reservations in a certain period be limited with the option to pre-select the seating, ample amounts of sanitisers at tables along with UV sanitised utensils whenever possible. Hygiene ratings with detailed hygiene information, regular hygiene checks & usage of mask and disposable gloves by waiters are likely to be the new standard, with diners expecting service personnel to sanitise tables & chairs after every use.

Dineout has recently unveiled the country’s first end-to-end ‘contactless dining suite’ to help restaurants survive and thrive in a post-COVID-19 world. The brand will also provide PPE Safety Kits to Restaurants to help ensure hygiene measures and is facilitating COVID free certification for restaurants through a licensed lab to ensure all microbiological tests are in place before restaurants restart post the lockdown. Users can see the certified restaurants on the Dineout App with their audit rating. This will help diners make an informed decision and are assured of the safety and hygiene standards, which will help regain consumer confidence in a post-COVID scenario.

Dineout is India’s largest dining out and restaurant tech solutions platform in B2C and B2B front with InResto & Torqus, processing more than 100M diners and $900M worth of transactions for its partner restaurants across its network of 50,000 restaurants in 20 cities, providing a collective savings of more than $100M on restaurant bills annually. Founded in 2012 by Ankit Mehrotra, Nikhil Bakshi, Sahil Jain and Vivek Kapoor, Dineout is the easiest way to discover the best restaurants in the city, save time & hassle by booking a table in advance, get discounts, enjoy 1+1 privileges on Food, Drink & Buffets through Gourmet Passport, as well as earn cashback on every restaurant bill payment via Dineout Pay.

 

FMCG 2025 Highlights the Need for Increased Opportunity amidst Competition

FMCG 2025, was hosted by a global supply chain decision-making platform, Locus late last week in Mumbai. The event saw participation from supply chain bigwigs of leading FMCG players like Unilever, Dabur, Tata Starquik, Godrej Consumer Products, PepsiCo India, Nestle, Mondelez, VLCC Personal Care and eminent professors. The event was an opportunity for industry stalwarts to discuss strategies, innovation, and revolutionary technologies in the FMCG supply chain with an industry outlook for 2025.

Mr. Nishith Aggarwal, Director of Customer Development, Route to Market South Asia, Unilever, said, “Omnichannel has promising opportunities in E-commerce given the seemingly viable economics of the model. From the FMCG distribution perspective, while the efficiency of operations has always been intrinsic to model, the key differentiator among players is how effective you are. On being asked about rising competition, Nishith opined, “Competition has always been there in the industry and is good for innovation. The key point is to remain focussed on consumer needs and trends and not get carried away by only competitive response.” Mr. Aggarwal comes with 17 years of experience in Supply Chain and Sales Operations in distributive trade context in leading organizations.

K. Radhakrishna, Co-Founder at Tata Starquik, added, “FMCG companies have innovated in distribution channels that has worked fairly well. What e-commerce has done is empowered the customer, an unparalleled feat."

Krishna Khandelwal, Chief Business Officer, Locus, said, “E-commerce has instilled a sense of fear of missing out in the FMCG fraternity, and all the increased action is helping the ecosystem grow."

Key topics covered were ‘How E-commerce is Disrupting the Consumer Market Space’ focusing on the rise of e-commerce, which has raised questions on the existing operating model of FMCG companies. E-commerce companies have radically shortened the delivery cycle, and even though they are currently about 10% of the market, the growth rate of 24.8% signifies the disruption created in the industry.



Another trend discussed was ‘Rural India - The Future of the FMCG Industry in India’ with the metro markets saturating giving rise to opportunities to tap into high potential and fast-growing semi-urban and rural segments. This panel discussion was addressed by Shivinder Singh, Head, Trade Marketing for Home & Personal Care, and Sales IT at Dabur India and Dr. Harvinder Singh, Chairperson – Marketing Area, IMT Ghaziabad followed by a Q&A session.

Dr. Harvinder Singh said, “Accessibility, awareness, and affordability are the significant elements required to address a rural market, be it for a startup or conglomerate."

Shivinder Singh said, “Kirana stores in rural India will place orders on the app to replenish their inventory; however, this will take at least a decade to function smoothly. Impact of technology to show benefits will require the consumer to move using the app from an awareness generation tool to an order placing mechanism.”

The event saw an amalgamation of business insights led by Krishna Khandelwal, CBO, Locus and a dash of humor added by the special host Shashwat Maheshwari. Locus is all set to organize similar round table conferences for different industry segments.

First Gen Entrepreneurs and QSRs Taking over F&B Sector - Survey [Infographic]]

The Food & Beverages segment is thriving in India, with various new factors and trends emerging in and impacting the segment in significant ways. With over 2000 of its live customers belonging to the F&B space, NeoGrowth, an NBFC serving under-banked SME businesses to develop a robust segment-specific financial ecosystem, recently conducted a research to gain an insight into the nature and operational dynamics of players in this segment.

The research was led in 5 metro cities namely -- Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad, and maps the various trends emerging in the space.

One of the biggest trends impacting the F&B space is the emergence of first generation entrepreneurs. In a market that has historically been dominated by multi-generational established players running for several years, relatively newer players with no previous business lineage and a vintage of less than 10 years have been observed to emerge and thrive in.

These entrepreneurs mostly own restaurants or bars, operating out of rented premises. Even though walk-ins make up for as much as 85% of the revenue for bars and restaurants and 69% for restaurants, these players have been observed to leverage food aggregating applications like Swiggy and Zomato to a significant extent. Mostly constituting of millennial entrepreneurs, these businesses utilize social media as an effective channel for marketing and promotions.

Another key trend that has been observed in the segment is the robustly expanding network of Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs). Although in its nascent stages, the trend of QSRs is rapidly gaining traction with increased urbanization, and evolving consumer lifestyles and behaviour.

Because of factors like minimal dine-in space and ready availability at odd hours of the day, as much as 50% of the revenue generated by these QSRs is through takeaways and home deliveries. With more and more players emerging in this segment and experimenting with cuisines, the QSR segment has been thriving in the metro F&B markets is projected to continue growing and expanding in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

According to the report, digital channels have witnessed a significant rise in adoption, whether in terms of payments or presence. For instance, the usage penetration of digital payments is about 62%, whereas the mode of cash has now been limited to 37%.Moreover, over 69% of thesegment players surveyed are present on Swiggy, closely followed by Zomato at 65%. Catering has also emerged as a key revenue resource, with over 40% of them taking it up for higher profit margins. The peak months have been observed to be the festival season of October-February whereas the monsoon months of July and August have been observed to be off-season, especially for walk-ins.

Sharing an insight behind the curation of this research, Piyush Khaitan, Founder, NeoGrowth remarked, "At NeoGrowth, we have always strived to equip ourselves with a deep understanding of the segments that our customers belong to, in order to facilitate better prospects for them to address their credit challenges. The Food & Beverages segment forms a significant part of our clientele, with over 2000 of our live customers belonging to this space. Therefore, through this research, we wanted to draw key insights and map the various trends impacting this segment. We believe that this survey conducted will enable NeoGrowth to extend support to the F&B customers in a more segment-specific and consequently, an effective manner.”

The financial behavior was also mapped in the survey, and it revealed key patterns and needs of these segment players. For instance, considering how a majority of the customers surveyed are first-generation entrepreneurs, securing funds especially during the initial set-up is a challenge they typically face. These small and emerging businesses are often rendered ineligible by the traditional underwriting mechanisms due to factors like a lack of financial returns or a formal business history and low to no credit bureau scores.

Further, since most of these businesses operate out of rented premises,a lack of collateral also leads to them remaining underbanked. In order to ensure a smooth functioning for their business, these players are on the lookout for lenders that would facilitate credit for them to meet their immediate as well as long-term financial needs. This is where NeoGrowth comes in the picture.

Through its innovative tech-enabled and smart analytics-led approach, NeoGrowth assesses both traditional as well as non-traditional data points to power its underwriting mechanisms. This enables it to accurately validate the creditworthiness of a business, consequently offering the best-suited loan product for their specific needs. This research also signifies how the platform has been extensively working towards serving its customers in a more effective and segment-specific manner by gaining a deeper understanding of the same.By facilitating financial aid to numerous small and medium business merchants belonging to different industries and verticals, NeoGrowth is actively working towards its mission of creating a positive social impact whilesimultaneously contributing to the inclusive growth of India.

NeoGrowth F&B Report Infographic

NeoGrowth is a pioneer in lending based on the underwriting of digital payments data. The Company’s proprietary technology platform offers unsecured loans to merchants who accept card or other digital payments from customers.

Flexible repayment is a hallmark of the NeoGrowth business, offering customer’s small daily auto-repayment facility from card-based sales. NeoGrowth’s mission is to have a positive social impact on the financial lives of small and medium business merchants across India, more than 50% of whom are creditworthy but until now have been excluded from accessing loans based on traditional underwriting methods.

NeoGrowth is backed by renowned investors, namely Omidyar Network, Aspada Investment Company, Khosla Impact, Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund – Quona Capital, IIFL Seed Ventures Fund and Leapfrog Investments.

Global Algae Products Market to Reach $ 15 Billion by 2024

Increasing demand from healthy food sector, particularly from manufacturers of healthy foods and supplements coupled with rising demand from pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors for manufacturing therapeutic drugs and natural cosmetic products to drive global algae products market through 2024

According to TechSci Research report, “Global Algae Products Market By Source, By Application, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024”, global algae products market is projected to reach $ 14.99 billion by 2024, backed by rising demand in healthy food products, pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors. Moreover, increasing application of algae products for generating biofuel is expected to drive the market during forecast period. According to CIA factbook, humans consume 11 billion tonnes of oil from fossil fuels, annually, across the globe. Crude oil reserves are expected to vanish by 2060. Algae can be used to produce biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel. Under the photosynthesis process, algae can create 15 times more oil per acre than what can be achieved from other plants used for producing biofuels, such as corn and switchgrass.

Browse 2 market data Tables and 114 Figures spread through 116 Pages and an in-depth TOC on
"Global Algae Products Market",
DIC Corporation, BASF SE, Koninklijke DSM N.V., Corbion N.V., Cyanotech Corporation, AlgaTechnologies Ltd., Algaetech International Sdn Bhd and Tianjin Norland Biotech Co., Ltd. are some of the leading players in global algae products market. North America dominated global algae products market in 2018 and is expected to maintain its dominating market position in coming years as well. Global algae products market can be broadly categorized on the basis of source into microalgae and microalgae. The microalgae segment dominated the market in 2018, backed by the high value proposition of algae products in the pharmaceutical sector, replacing several synthetically manufactured pharmaceutical products.

Download Sample Report @ https://www.techsciresearch.com/sample-report.aspx?cid=2719
One can also request for 10% free customization on this report.

According to TechSci Research “Algae are highly sensitive to change in environmental conditions. The production hubs for different types of algae are fragmented across the world. China, Japan, South Korea and other eastern countries are the production hubs for macroalgae, while North America and South America are the production hubs for microalgae. The market is highly fragmented in terms of number of players and type of algae products offered. Since different end use industries require different grades of algae, manufacturers in global algae products market are focusing on specific industries by developing specific types of strain of algae. The leading players in the market are microalgae product manufacturers, majorly for the pharmaceutical and food & beverage industries.”, said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.
“Global Algae Products Market By Source, By Application, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2024” has evaluated the future growth potential of global algae products market and provides statistics and information on market structure, size, share and future growth. The report is intended to provide cutting-edge market intelligence and help decision makers to take sound investment decisions. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes the emerging trends along with essential drivers, challenges and opportunities present in global algae products market.

Flipkart to Open Offline Grocery Stores across India

India's largest e-commerce platform owned by US-based Walmart, Flipkart, is planning to open offline a.k.a brick-and-mortar grocery stores across India in order to tap the food retail industry in the country where 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is allowed, said a Times of India report.

As per Indian FDI norms, foreign investors are not allowed to open retail stores in the country. However, in the food retail business, a foreign investor is allowed to open physical stores.

In India, Flipkart's parent Walmart is allowed only to operate a business-to-business (B2B) wholesale segment in India due to the country's FDI regulations and around 50-60% of Walmart’s global sales come from food and as the retail giant does not want left behind, its strategy of opening offline stores in India falls into Walmart's way of organizing things for its business.

To recall, a Morgan Stanley report released earlier this year had suggested that Walmart could exit Flipkart, as the US retail firm does not see a long-term path to profitability. The new FDI rules for the e-commerce sector came into effect on February 1, this year and post that not just Flipkart's but Amazon's business too got impacted and saw a drop of around 25-35% in sales after having to re-arrange their seller entities where they held an equity stake.

Flipkart entering into the food retail segment is also seen as Walmart’s strategy to boost its cash-and-carry business, where revenue growth has been slow and Food accounts for two-thirds of India’s overall retail market, which is estimated to reach U$1.1 trillion by 2020 from USD 672 billion in 2017.

Amazon, which is global competitor of Walmart, has also committed to investing about $500 million in the food retail business through its food retail arm Amazon Retail India. It has bought a large stake in Aditya Birla Group's food and grocery retail chain and is also in the process of acquiring Kishore Biyani-led Future retail which operates Easy Day and Big Bazaar chain in the country.

Meanwhile, home grown e-grocers, Grofers and Big Basket, have also reportedly gotten government nod to sell locally produced food items and hold inventory of the same.

On the other side, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance is doing vice-versa (offline-to-online) by launching a new e-commerce platform in India, which will connect brick-and-mortar stores to online channel of Reliance Retail. To be rolled out initially for Gujarat retailers and store-owners, the upcoming e-commerce platform will enrich about 1.2 million small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat.

In August last year, a report supposedly said that Alibaba’s chairman Jack Ma had held talks with Mukesh Ambani, in July-2018 in Mumbai and discussed about plan to create a large omnichannel i.e. both online as well offline, retail entity through the proposed JV of RIL and Alibaba.

Among online grocery business, both Grofers and Bigbasket is envisaging omnichannel strategy. Gurgaon-based Grofers has recently raised $200 million in a fresh funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund, pushing the startup’s valuation to almost $1 billion. Prior to that, a month before BigBasket had raised fresh $40 million from CDC Group, the UK government's development finance institution, at a valuation of $1.2 billion, that made it the latest entrant to India's coveted unicorn club of startups.

Amazon Invests Fresh $392 Mn in its India Operations and Additional $150K in Food Retail Business

After infusing $33.58 Mn into its wallet business in India, global e-commerce giant Amazon has invested fresh $392.3 million (₹2,700 crore) in its India operations, which completed its five years in last month.

According to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), sourced from business intelligence platform Paper.vc, Amazon Seller Services, the marketplace unit of the US e-commerce giant in India, received an infusion of ₹2,7 billion (approx $392 million) earlier this month.

An additional ₹100 crore was invested in Amazon Retail India, as per paper.vc. Notably, Amazon Retail India is the food retail unit of the company which will drive its grocery category. Amazon had said that it would invest $500 million into food retail soon after the government opened the sector up to 100 foreign direct investment.

The fresh capital infusion from Amazon comes months after the US-based retail giant Walmart acquired Amazon's Indian rival, Flipkart.

Amit Agarwal, Amazon India country head and senior vice president, had told a business daily that Amazon would not hold back from further investments in the Indian operations.

According to the company, more than half of the capital it has invested in India so far has gone towards building infrastructure, including investments in technology, warehousing, logistics, etc.

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, has committed to invest $5.5 billion into the India business and now with this fresh investment, the total investment the company has made in its marketplace business in India is close to US$3.7 billion.

According to a report by Citi Research released in May this year, Amazon’s India business could be valued at $16 billion right now and is expected to reach $70 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) and $11 billion in net sales by 2027.

Amazon is also aggressively investing fintech space in India. In May, Amazon Inc. along with Mastercard, led $8-10 funding of Bangalore-based Naffa Innovations Pvt. Ltd, which operates digital payments startup ToneTag. In the same month, Amazon led a $12 million funding round in Acko Technologies, which is a Insurtech startup headquartered in Mumbai. Prior to this, the company had invested $22 million in Capital Float, a Bengaluru headquartered digital lending startup.

Amazon India To Start Selling Local Foods From March

Six months after getting $500 million government approval for food retailing in India, e-commerce giant Amazon is all set to sell locally made food items through a wholly-owned subsidiary from March in India, according to a report in Economic Times.

At the same time when Amazon India got food retailing approval it was also reported that the company would buy homegrown e-grocer Bigbasket but eventually Bigbasket raised whopping $280 million instead, from Alibaba and Paytm Mall, and the deal turned up dead.

Now, half a years later, Amazon India is gearing up to sell locally produced and packaged foods through its own wholly-owned subsidiary and will directly competes with Bigbasket and Grofers.

India created a food-retailing sector to allow foreign companies to set up 100% owned subsidiaries to sell food that is sourced and produced locally. ET reports that Food is the only segment where it’s allowed to sell directly to consumers.

Amazon currently runs an online marketplace in India, which means that it cannot sell directly to consumers. It is only a platform for sellers to sell their items.

The government is also considering allowing food retailer to sell personal care items, limited to 25% of their total sales.

ET reports that the government wants Amazon to keep its food-only retailing away from its marketplace business and maintain separate boards, staff, bank accounts and inventories. In fact, it is this clause of government that prevented Amazon to launch the food retailing venture in India, which was originally slated to be launched during Diwali.

To recall, last year Amazon surprised everyone when it bought Whole Foods Market Inc., a 465-store chain selling natural and organic groceries, for a jaw-dropping $13.7 billion.

Earlier in November last year, it was also reported that Reliance Jio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries is all set make entry into India’s online grocery market by linking manufacturers, kirana stores and corner shops to his Reliance Jio customers and mint money, however the conclusion of this report is still awaited.

Google, on other hand, has already launched food delivery app in India, in April 2017. And for same, instead of getting in direct competition, Google has tied up with Bigbasket, Grofers as partners.

Amazon India To Start Selling Local Foods From March

Six months after getting $500 million government approval for food retailing in India, e-commerce giant Amazon is all set to sell locally made food items through a wholly-owned subsidiary from March in India, according to a report in Economic Times.

At the same time when Amazon India got food retailing approval it was also reported that the company would buy homegrown e-grocer Bigbasket but eventually Bigbasket raised whopping $280 million instead, from Alibaba and Paytm Mall, and the deal turned up dead.

Now, half a years later, Amazon India is gearing up to sell locally produced and packaged foods through its own wholly-owned subsidiary and will directly competes with Bigbasket and Grofers.

India created a food-retailing sector to allow foreign companies to set up 100% owned subsidiaries to sell food that is sourced and produced locally. ET reports that Food is the only segment where it’s allowed to sell directly to consumers.

Amazon currently runs an online marketplace in India, which means that it cannot sell directly to consumers. It is only a platform for sellers to sell their items.

The government is also considering allowing food retailer to sell personal care items, limited to 25% of their total sales.

ET reports that the government wants Amazon to keep its food-only retailing away from its marketplace business and maintain separate boards, staff, bank accounts and inventories. In fact, it is this clause of government that prevented Amazon to launch the food retailing venture in India, which was originally slated to be launched during Diwali.

To recall, last year Amazon surprised everyone when it bought Whole Foods Market Inc., a 465-store chain selling natural and organic groceries, for a jaw-dropping $13.7 billion.

Earlier in November last year, it was also reported that Reliance Jio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries is all set make entry into India’s online grocery market by linking manufacturers, kirana stores and corner shops to his Reliance Jio customers and mint money, however the conclusion of this report is still awaited.

Google, on other hand, has already launched food delivery app in India, in April 2017. And for same, instead of getting in direct competition, Google has tied up with Bigbasket, Grofers as partners.

Amazon May Soon Get $500 Mn FDI Approval for Food Retailing in India

United States' retail biggie Amazon has been interested in investing in retail of food products in India for sometime now. And according to latest reports coming in, the Indian retail sector is rife with rumours that Amazon is on the brink of getting an official stamp of approval from Indian authorities on the matter.

Amazon's proposal to invest US $500 million in retailing food products in India had earlier been pending with the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB), which was recently dissolved by the government. Now, with FIPB abolished, Amazon's investment plan is with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) which is expected to give its go-ahead Amazon anytime now.

Prior to the abolishment of FIPB, the DIPP under the Indian commerce and industry ministry had already cleared Amazon's investment and sent it to the FIPB for the final approval. But, with FIPB out of the picture, the road ahead looks smooth for Amazon.

The 25- year-old FIPB, which was responsible for vetting FDI proposals requiring government approval, to expedite the clearance process, was dissolved by the Union Cabinet last month as it was decided that the proposals will now be approved by the ministries concerned as per the standard operating procedure approved by the Union Cabinet.

According to an ET report, the Indian government had initially got investment proposals from three companies- Amazon, Big Basket and Grofers -worth a whopping US$ 695 million for retail of food products in the Indian subcontinent.

US-based retail giant Amazon is already giving a strong competition to homegrown Indian e-commerce giant, Flipkart, which currently acquires the numero uno position in the e-commerce market. Big Basket and Grofers are basically mainly into the online grocery space.

The proposals are a result of the Modi government allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) through approval route for trading, including through e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and produced in India last year.

According to Food Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, FDI inflows brings with it new technologies, products, processes and markets. In 2016-17 (April-December), the Indian food processing sector received FDI of US$ 663.23 million.