In December 2022, the Adani Group launched a travel app. This Adani One initiative was launched after the group had taken over control and operation of 7 airports in India. The intention was to have flight bookings, hotels and services transactions all channeled through this platform. However, with a reported user base of 30 million as of March this year given a population base of 1.417 billion people, this endeavor has so far been a catastrophic failure.
The current user base makes the target of getting 500 million users onboard by 2030 seem like a fantasy. This failure is especially highlighted if you compare with the 1.4 billion Chinese users the Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd have managed to bring onto their smartphone apps.
Now, the conglomerate has told Bloomberg that they are reworking the digital strategy. The future for Adani seems to lie in a Super App that includes online payment through partnerships.
“We reviewed the entire Adani One strategy and plan to work with partners in segments from financial services to e-commerce. This will help us reach hundreds of millions of end users.” said Jeet Adani, the younger son of the billionaire-patriarch.
The group’s digital arm expanded into financial services with a June credit card launch in partnership with ICICI Bank and is currently collaborating with tech giants Google, Microsoft, and SAP, as well as payment solutions provider Pine Labs. Adani Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Ahmedabad. It was founded by Gautam Adani in 1988 as a commodity trading business.
Adani Group Deals in Kenya
Even as their airport businesses experiences losses in India, the group seems to have set its eyes on Kenya. Recently, details of Kenya’s agreement with the group to renovate and operate Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) have been made public. The $1.85 billion deal to outsource JKIA operations has ignited controversy, with critics citing risks of fraud, tax avoidance, and a monopoly.
Read: JKIA Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Parking Rates
Even as the JKIA deal is discussed and denied by top government officials. Kenya has gone ahead and approved a $907 million proposal from Adani Energy Solutions, the power distribution wing of Adani Group. This deal will see the Indian group build 371km of transmission lines and 5 substations. This will be in Eastern and Western parts of the country under a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
“The project development or feasibility study report was completed, submitted, and approved in May 2024, for the project to progress to contract negotiations,” Treasury said.
