Amazon may start food delivery business in India: Report

The Indian arm of Seattle-based ecommerce giant Amazon is planning to enter the food delivery segment in India and launch operations before the beginning of the festive season, Reuters reported.  

The retail giant is already working with its local partner Catamaran, a private investment firm founded by Infosys’ co-founder Narayana Murthy, and has initiated recruitments, the report said, citing unnamed sources. 

Amazon has been holding talks to acquire the Indian arm of food delivery platform Uber Eats, Business Standard reported recently. As of now, discussions are gravitating towards a strategic partnership between the two entities, the report added. 

Amazon India allows users to pay for online food deliveries from platforms like FreshMenu, Box8 and Swiggy through Amazon Pay. 

In May 2017, Uber India Technology launched its food delivery platform Uber Eats in India. In the face of stiff competition from the likes of market leaders Swiggy and Zomato, Uber Eats has found it difficult to make in-roads into the segment. 

In February, talks were rife of the ride-hailing company’s food delivery platform being acquired by Bundl Technologies-led Swiggy. 

Food delivery apps in India have helped nascent eateries expand the customer base, particularly in the metropolitan and sub-tier cities.  

The online food delivery segment in India is set to grow at around 13% annually, at least until 2023, says research and data repository platform Statista.

The firm also pegged revenues in the online food delivery segment for 2019 at over $7.7 billion with an estimated user base of over 160 million customers.

While the India arm of UberEats has been trying to build its base in the subcontinent, its competitors are looking for new channels to service customers. 

Last month, Swiggy announced that it was diversifying its business by launching a service to deliver home-cooked meals to customers. 

Earlier this year, Swiggy forayed into grocery deliveries by launching Swiggy Stores.

Zomato has successfully tested a drone, thereby bringing the Sequoia-backed food delivery platform a step closer to carrying out deliveries by air. The test followed close on the heels of Zomato Media expanding its footprint to over 300 cities.