Ambani to invest $1.4 b in Indian state

India’s Reliance Industries will invest 100 billion rupees ($1.4 billion) in the eastern state of West Bengal, a part of which would fund the company’s new e-commerce venture, its Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Thursday.

The energy and telecoms conglomerate, which already runs retail stores, has announced plans to diversify into e-commerce at a time when India’s new foreign investment curbs have dealt a blow to Amazon. com Inc and Walmart’s Flipkart.

The investment announcements also come as a boost for the state’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, who has in recent weeks rallied regional parties and the main opposition Congress to forge an alliance to beat Prime Minister Narendra Modi in upcoming elections, which must be held by May.

Ambani’s so-called “new commerce” venture aims to connect small merchants with his retail network and warehouses, helping them better manage their inventory. It already has more than 500 retail stores in the state, selling everything from clothes to groceries, and the new plan would “increase manifold” its warehouse space in the next 24 months in West Bengal, he said. (RTRS)