Tata Sons, the holding company at the helm of the $100-billion Tata group, is preparing to inject a crucial dose of capital worth $400 million into Tata Digital, the conglomerate’s digital commerce arm, Tata Digital, people aware of the group’s plans told Moneycontrol.
The digital business—which comprises of consumer platforms like BigBasket, Tata 1mg, and Tata Cliq—will be funded from Tata Sons’ dividend haul from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the sources said.
They added that Tata Sons is not looking at any further dilution of its stake in TCS, especially for the funding of the digital venture.
In 2024, Tata Sons had sold TCS shares worth over Rs 9,300 crore to strengthen its balance sheet.
Tata Sons received over Rs 32,700 crore in dividend income from TCS in FY25. The Tata group holding company owns 71.77 percent stake in India’s biggest IT services firm.
Emails sent to Tata Sons and Tata Digital did not elicit a response till the time of publication.
Tata Digital: Mixed report card
The funding plans of the parent company come at a time when Tata Digital has been struggling to make its mark in the competitive ecommerce landscape of India making external fundraising efforts a challenging task.
Launched in 2021 with much fanfare, Tata Digital was envisioned as a “super app” ecosystem, bringing together grocery (BigBasket), healthcare (Tata 1mg), fashion and electronics (Tata Cliq), and more, onto a platform named Tata Neu. The group rapidly acquired and integrated brands, setting aggressive sales targets and positioning itself to take on entrenched contenders like Amazon, Walmart’s Flipkart, and Reliance Retail.
However, the platform struggled to scale up in line with the group’s ambitions.
Tata group has already pumped in $2 billion into the digital venture over the last three years, but its businesses continue to lag well entrenched competitors.
Competitors like Blinkit and Zepto have outpaced BigBasket, capturing a greater share of the fast-growing “quick commerce” market with faster delivery and deeper urban penetration.
Top Level Changes
Its troubles are also highlighted by the top management churn in recent times.
Pratik Pal, the founding CEO, who led Tata Digital since the launch of Tata Neu, stepped down in February 2024 after seemingly struggling to build the app into a unified consumer platform.
Naveen Tahilyani, who was appointed as CEO and MD in February 2024, departed abruptly in May 2025, just 15 months into his tenure, to join Prudential Plc in an international role.
With its competitors continuing to raise large sums of money from the public markets or private investors, the capital infusion from the parent entity will be crucial for Tata Digital’s efforts to turnaround its business.
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