Tata Sons has invested Rs 5,882 crore in its eCommerce company Tata Digital (TD), the most it has invested in eCommerce in any single fiscal year.
This is also the highest ever fund allocation in a single tranche.
Spending Spree
Overall, TD will invest Rs 11,872 crore in 2021-22, which will help it compete with established online retailers like Amazon and Flipkart. TD has been busy making acquisitions in the consumer internet space over the last year. It took over major startups such as Bigbasket and e pharmacy 1mg.
Gearing Up For Tough Fight
The board of TD on March 30 approved the allotment of 5.88 billion fully paid-up equity shares of Rs 10 each on a rights basis, according to filings to the Registrar of Companies.
The filings were made when the super app Tata Neu went live, indicating that the group is preparing to take on established players like Amazon, Flipkart and new but well-funded entrant Jiomart.
The filings also show that TD has raised its authorised share capital to Rs 15k crore from Rs 11k crore, setting the stage for the current round of capital infusion.
Other Purposes
Experts say that this massive infusion in a single tranche sends the message to other players that Tata is in the eCommerce fight to win. The costs involved are no bar. In fact, more of these infusions are likely to occur in the near future. The money has been raised to repay some of its existing debt, meet business objectives, and other corporate requirements.
Neu App
Tata recently launched its much-awaited super app Tata Neu in which users can shop from various Tata brands in a one-stop destination. Some of the brands onboarded include Air Asia, BigBasket, Croma, IHCL, Qmin, Starbucks, Tata 1Mg, Tata CLiQ, Tata Play, and Westside.