Tata Sons holds back fresh investments in e-commerce ventures amid strategic overhaul: Report

Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran.

Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata group, put on hold halt fresh investments into its ecommerce and omni-channel electronics ventures, including Tata Neu, Croma and Tata Cliq, and others in FY24, The Economic Times has reported.

This is the first time in eight years that the conglomerate refrained from injecting funds into these businesses, the report cited sources as saying.

"Despite ongoing organisational changes, there is a deliberate decision to refrain from new equity investments until these strategic and operational enhancements are fully implemented," the report cites sources as saying. "However, plans for future funding injections will resume once these changes are successfully executed."

Moneycontrol could not verify the report independently.

Tata Sons has already invested an estimated Rs 19,000 crore in Tata Digital, the holding entity for its ecommerce ventures, top executives said.

The pause is part of a strategic move aimed at refining operational strategies, enhancing accountability, and improving efficiencies to ensure sustainable profitability.

Registrar of Companies filings accessed via Tofler indicate that Tata Sons did not make any investments in Tata Digital in FY24.

Tata Digital oversees Tata Unistore, the operator of Tata Cliq, Innovative Retail Concepts, the owner of BigBasket, Tata 1MG Healthcare Solutions, Infiniti Retail, which operates Croma stores, and “super app” Tata Neu.

Both Tata Sons and Tata Digital declined to comment to ET queries.

"Tata Sons has allocated substantial capital to support growth-oriented businesses. However, there is now a firm directive to achieve profitability within a defined timeframe. Businesses must prioritise effective execution on the ground to scale operations. Until these milestones are met, fresh capital allocations will be limited to critical needs only," the report quoted a senior executive as saying.