JioMart will deliver groceries in more than 200 towns across the country, Damodar Mall, chief executive of grocery retail at the Indian conglomerate, said on Twitter late on Saturday.
Mumbai-headquartered Reliance has not announced JioMart’s launch at a time it is selling $7 billion in new shares.
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Reliance launched a small pilot of JioMart deliveries in select areas of the Indian financial capital Mumbai late last month, days after announcing that Facebook would spend $5.7 billion for a 9.99 % stake in the company’s digital unit, Jio Platforms.
That partnership will help Reliance roll out service for India’s grocers and small businesses by capitalising on India’s 400 million-strong user base for Facebook’s WhatsApp messaging service.
JioMart, the e-commerce venture of Reliance’s retail arm, offers free express grocery delivery from neighborhood mom-and-pop stores. It will pose a formidable challenge to local rivals, which are also betting big on groceries for their growth.
The launch comes as India is witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters the product catalog on JioMart’s website will be expanded after lockdown restrictions aimed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus are eased.
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“Never waste a crisis, they say!” Mall said in his tweet.
“A wise colleague mentioned today, ‘Alibaba also flourished starting from the SARS crisis.’”
The oil-to-telecoms giant, controlled by India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the launch.
Reliance is on a fundraising spree with Jio Platforms, which houses telecoms ventures Jio Infocomm, winning a massive $10 billion from investors including Facebook, KKR & Co, and General Atlantic in a month.
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