Sixteen billion dollars for 77% stake in Flipkart by Walmart has stunned the world of e-commerce and this is great going for Indian entrepreneurs who are laughing their way to the bank for creating a decade old brand that has become the talking point all across the globe. Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal started Flipkart from a 2BHK apartment and a few rupees with a vision that has today turned into a reality where people buy not just books but all commodities online. Indians have the brains to think out of the box and foreign investors the big bucks and the combination of the two have become success stories in all segments of business be it buying stuffs of daily use to travel and leisure.
However, foreign investors are not here for charity but for business and profits. The big daddy deals would mean they would try to recover their investments by hiking prices on goods and service they offer which may be bad news for people in India. Ola/Uber we all know have got expensive after doling out lollipops initially to their clients. Indian govt should through legislations check the interest of consumers where monopoly does not mean taking people for a ride. Great going for Indian economy though as the world sees lot of opportunities in our country which would fuel our country's growth and progress in the years to come!
— S.N.Kabra, Goregaon
The biggest deal is struck in e-commerce. It will take a lot of time to find out whether the deal has brought good or bad for India. In an instant view one can say, it was a good deal. But for India this may not be a good deal. After all one of India's so called home grown company has been sold to the American giant. Now the whole retail market excepts some small player is controlled by the American companies. Two e-commerce rivals of a foreign company are making money out of our country. Flipkart which has grown to become such a large giant cannot even maintain the home dominance while struggling with another foreign e-commerce company. Large companies like ours are not visioned. Home investors should be given priorities with attractive policies. Are we by any chance throwing ourselves into the foreign hands. Formerly we fought for freedom and now we are fighting to sell it. Flipkart is not in the strategic sector, but it is the leading e-commerce player in India, having swathes of data about Indian customers. Given the growing dependency on data these days, as it is said that data is the new oil, ideally govt should provide capital for growth of such promising companies in potentially high growth sectors. But as we know whatever comes under the ambit of the govt loses its charm, it's better for these companies to get the necessary capital from foreign investors.
— Nikhil CKS Maniam, Seawoods