The largest search engine and the tech giant, Google will be joining the league of e-commerce market in India by Diwali, says sources. At present, e-commerce market is valued at around USD 38.5 billion and expected to grow to USD 64 billion by 2020. Earlier, Google was planning to invest around 2 billion in Flipkart via Walmart, which acquired 77 percent stake of Flipkart for USD 16-billion, but now Google is likely to enter the Indian e-commerce market on its own. Indian e-commerce is already in the trajectory of growing upward and also expected to surpass the US e-commerce market by 2034 to become the second largest e-commerce market in the world. Recently, Google had announced an investment of USD 550 million in JD.com, a Chinese e-commerce company, and both the companies have cited in a joint statement that it is a strategic partnership. Earlier, Walmart and JD.com had also entered into a strategic partnership. Indian e-commerce business will reach USD 200 billion by 2026, according to the report of IBEF.

For almost one year, Google has been working on its e-commerce plan for India. If the project is approved successfully then India is going to be the first platform for Google’s e-commerce business and it will be headed by Caesar Sengupta, the Vice President of Product Management at Google. At present, he is also leading the Next Billion Users initiative for the company and will examine the e-commerce launch in the country before heading to other markets.

“With the massive user base, India looms as an attractive market for retailers. It is currently estimated that 15 percent (200 million) of Indian consumers will be shopping online by end of 2018, and the relatively untapped growth potential is attracting the commerce giants,” said Adrian Lee, Research Director at Gartner. “Home-grown companies stand to benefit in the long run. As consumers are more attuned to and comfortable with shopping online with e-commerce marketplaces, we see vertical specialists (largest categories being fashion and electronics) benefiting. High value, more discerning consumers who want differentiated choices and unique offers will seek out specialists to fulfill this need,” he added.