In April 2020, Facebook purchased a 10-percent stake in Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio, the telecommunications arm of the Reliance empire. In addition to dominating telecom, Reliance is the largest player in petrochemicals and in retail. When its latest acquisition is complete, the company will control 40 percent – a large plurality – of India’s organised groceries sector. That could make it the biggest buyer of farmers’ products and, therefore, the biggest beneficiary of the right to negotiate directly….

Facebook, one of the world’s most powerful companies, is no one’s puppet. But through its partnership with Reliance, the social-media giant could substantially gain from the agricultural laws. Facebook owns WhatsApp, which has more than fifty crore users in India. It is currently rolling out WhatsApp Pay, a feature that will allow WhatsApp users to complete digital transactions without leaving the application. And it is integrating Reliance’s JioMart – an expanding, groceries-focused online marketplace – into its messaging service. It means that if farmers begin selling more food directly to Reliance, as the laws would allow, there is a good chance they will do so via WhatsApp.

For Facebook, that presents enormous financial opportunities. For every sale or purchase made over WhatsApp, the company will receive valuable data on people’s needs, retail preferences, and finances. On 15 May, Facebook updated WhatsApp’s privacy policy in a way that makes clear the broader Facebook empire can use this data as it sells microtargeted advertisements….

https://caravanmagazine.in/business/facebook-reliance-farm-laws-banking-retail-dominance?utm_source=pocket_mylist

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