BigBasket on Wednesday refused to comment on reports that Tata Group has reached an agreement to acquire a majority stake in the grocery delivery platform.

A report by TechCrunch on Tuesday, citing sources, had said that salt-to-software conglomerate “is buying over 60% stake in BigBasket in a deal that values the Indian startup between $1.8 billion to $2 billion”.

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“BigBasket has raised more than $750 million prior to the deal with Tata,” the report added.

When contacted, Bigbasket said it does not have an official statement to share on the report.

Alibaba has about 30 per cent stake in BigBasket. As per the report, other existing investors including “Abraaj Group are getting a near complete exit from the startup as part of the deal with Tata Group.”

As per the report, the decision to acquire majority stakes in the grocery delivery platform comes in the backdrop of Tata Group’s plans to expand its operations in consumer business as Reliance is firming up its own expansion with JioMart amid the booming eGrocery market in India.

A joint report by Bengaluru-based market consulting firm RedSeer and Bigbasket (Brand Intelligence) in September last year said that online grocery is going to be the next battleground for growth, expanding to over $18 billion by 2024.

“The industry has seen more than 70 per cent ARR (annual recurring revenue) jumps in the last quarter across categories. This brings the opportunity to serve a larger set of customers, and some challenges with it,” said Hari Menon, co-founder and CEO of BigBasket.

As the e-commerce battle intensifies in India, the next big thing is the delivery of groceries online and the market size is estimated to grow eight times in the next five years in the country.

The eGrocery market has grown 60 per cent from the calendar year 2020 and is expected to grow 41-49 per cent by the first half of CY21, according to the latest data provided by homegrown consulting firm RedSeer.

The latest Reliance takeover of Future Group’s retail business is a major consolidation of organised grocery retail.