The Adani Group is considering entering the e-commerce and payments segment and is seeking a UPI license

The Adani Group is reportedly planning to enter the e-commerce and payments sector as it looks to create a digital business that can compete with giants like Google and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries in India.

The company is considering applying for a license to operate on India’s widely used public digital payments platform, Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

According to a Financial Times report, the Gautam-Adani-led group is currently in talks with banks to finalize the previously mentioned plans for a co-branded Adani credit card.

The company is also in talks to provide online shopping services on the rapidly growing Indian e-commerce platform ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce).

Both ONDC and UPI are key components of India’s digital public infrastructure, attracting millions of users every month and various groups aiming to start consumer technology companies.

If confirmed, the services will be available through Adani’s consumer app, Adani One, which currently hosts travel offers such as flight and hotel bookings.

PhonePe and domestic players such as Paytm and Tata have long been offering the popular UPI-based payment service and grocery/apparel shopping through ONDC.

The “interoperable” nature of these networks means that businesses are not obliged to create their own exclusive payment or e-commerce platforms, instead they can simply transact through existing providers.

Sources cited in the report said the company’s e-commerce and payments services would primarily target its existing customer base, which they believe includes hundreds of millions of people, taking into account gas and electricity users as well as airport travelers companies.

For example, customers can earn loyalty points by paying bills or making duty-free purchases and then redeem them for online purchases. By focusing on its existing user base, Adani would have “a platform to expand into much larger areas,” said one of the sources cited in the report.