Walmart-owned Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart is launching a food retail business.

The new initiative will see the firm release its own private label, Flipkart Farmermart, as well as a grocery supply chain and potentially physical stores.

A spokesman for the firm told news outlet Moneycontrol that Flipkart plans to “deepen its penetration in the food retail space, take on Amazon, and run a farm-to-fork operation,” with the board consenting to invest ₹2,500 crore (US$350,000) to expand its operations in the grocery business.

The firm plans to leverage parent company Walmart’s experience in the cash-and-carry sector in the territory, which has helped build connections in the farming industry for grocery and food produce.

Research shows that just 0.15 per cent of Indian nationals buy online, although this figure is expected to increase exponentially over the next few years.