Tata Digital's consolidated loss surges six-fold to ₹3,051 cr in FY22

The consolidated loss of Tata Digital, the wholly-owned e-commerce subsidiary of Tata Sons, surged six times to ₹3,051 crore in FY22 as compared to ₹536 crore in FY21. However, the company's total revenue from operations surged three-fold to ₹15,979 crore in FY22 as against ₹5,315 crore in FY21. 

The company's consolidated income stood at ₹16,201 crore in FY22 as against ₹5,463 crore in the same period last year. The company's expenses witnessed a 200% jump to ₹19,316 crore in FY22 as against ₹6,069 crore in FY21. The other income jumped 49% to ₹2,214 crore in FY22, as compared to ₹1,480 crore in FY21, whereas its employee costs stood at ₹1,419 crore in FY22 as against ₹3,458 crore in FY21. 

Tata Digital, which is a digital platform includes consumer categories such as groceries, fashion and electronics, travel and hospitality, health and fitness, entertainment, and financial services. In December last year, Trent, which is the wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Group, sold its 3.22% stake in Tata Unistore to Tata Digital at an estimated cost of ₹24.14 crore. With this, all e-commerce such as superapp Tata Neu, Croma, Big Basket and online pharmacy apps such as PharmEasy and Tata 1mg, are owned by Tata Digital. According to reports, Mukesh Bansal, the president of Tata Digital, stepped down from his role in the day-to-day operations of Tata Neu last week.

Tata Digital, which is planning to expand its footprint in the ecommerce space, has already received approval from the board of directors of Tata Group to raise ₹3,462 crore in two tranches as per reports. With this, Tata Digital is reportedly planning to increase its authorised share capital from ₹15,000 crore to ₹20,000 crore. Tata Sons had previously invested ₹5,882 crore in Tata Digital in April this year. So far the salt-to-software conglomerate has invested ₹6,400 crore, into Tata Digital.

According to a report by Bain & Company, the country's e-tail market is estimated to touch $150 billion-$170 billion by 2027 from $40 billion in 2021, owing to the steady rise in the number of online shoppers, reaching a significant 180-190 million in 2021. India, which currently has the third largest count of online shoppers after the US and China "is well poised to surpass the US to have the second-largest shopper base in the next one to two years," analysts said in the report.

"Shopper addition will continue to be at the heart of future e-retail growth. India's online shopper base is estimated to increase to 400-450 million by 2027," the analysts added.

Meanwhile, the online retailers saw a 25% year-on-year growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) during the festive month last year, according to a report by market research company Redseer Strategy Consultants.

While e-tailers sold goods worth ₹76,000 crore during the festive month, it was lower than Redseer's pre-sale estimate of ₹83,000 crore. E-commerce platforms including Tata Digital and Tata Neu held their festive sale during the one-month period between September 22 and October 23 this year.