After the ban on Chinese apps by the Indian government, the battle between Ratan Tata vs Muskesh Ambani has taken a new shape. With an aim to control 1.3 billion Indians’ data, both the powerhouses are leaving no stone unturned to take over the other.
Ratan Tata vs Muskesh Ambani contest would get under way if, Tata Sons puts on board their financial or strategic investors. As reported by Bloomberg News, the holding company of the $113 billion coffee-to-cars conglomerate may be taking a leaf from the playbook of Mukesh Ambani, who successfully raised $20 billion in 2020 itself from the likes of Alphabet Inc., Facebook Inc., Silver Lake Partners and other trusted digital assets. Now, Muskesh Ambani is taking a leap further by parcelling out stakes in his retail venture, and may have sought out Amazon.com Inc.
Tata Group, on the other hand, is having discussions with Walmart Inc. for a $25 billion investment in a “super-app.” The 152-year-old venerable conglomerate is planning to create a multi-purpose online platform combining fashion, lifestyle, food, grocery, electronics retail, insurance and financial services, as reported in Mint newspaper. The “super app” will also focus on offering digital content and education.
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Ratan Tata vs Muskesh Ambani: Super App Rivalry
Mukesh Ambani does have an upper hand as he already has 400 million regular subscribers for Jio telecommunications network. But, Tat Group also owns Tetley tea and Jaguar Land Rover car brands, and has its claws dug in more than 100 businesses. Furthermore, if Tata is able to provide a portal to its vendors to not only sell their wares, but also to host data and discount bills, expansion into business-to-consumer or consumer-to-consumer websites — like Alibaba’s Tmall or Taobao, then Tata would surely be able to knock out Ambani. Also, if Walmart agrees to partner with Ratan Tata, Tata will then get a free reign to both the U.S. retailer’s India e-commerce website – Flipkart and also PhonePe.
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Tata has more experience than Reliance in running consumer businesses. It has, however, underestimated its competitor’s strength and was even forced to offload its mobile service business after Reliance Jio became a huge success. Right now, all Tata needs is a new growth engine. It also needs to pull up its socks as Reliance has already partnered with Google to build a cheap Android phone for Jio. If all goes well, then Reliance will be using Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging for handling payments for JioMart, and if Amazon collaborates with Ambani, and Walmart with Tata, then the entire corporate America will have to bow down and place its bet on the next big emergingt online commerce market after China – Ratan Tata vs Mukesh Ambani.
