Flipkart Joins The Reverse Flip Parade

After months of speculation about it shifting its base from Singapore to India, ecommerce major Flipkart has confirmed its plans to reverse flip. 

“As a company born and nurtured in India, this transition will further enhance our focus and agility in serving our customers, sellers, partners, and communities to continue contributing to the nation’s growing digital economy and entrepreneurship. We are excited by the opportunities ahead and reaffirm our long-term confidence in India’s future,” a spokesperson of the Walmart-owned company said. 

The spokesperson added that the move aligns with the company’s “deep and unwavering commitment to India and its remarkable growth”.

“This strategic decision reflects our deep and unwavering commitment to India and its remarkable growth… This move represents a natural evolution, aligning our holding structure with our core operations, the vast potential of the Indian economy and our technology and innovation-driven capabilities to foster digital transformation in India,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier, ET reported that the ecommerce giant’s board approved the plan to shift its domicile from Singapore to India. As per the report, the company plans to hit the Indian stock exchanges by 2026.

The company’s marketplace arm, Flipkart Internet Private Limited, began its capital restructuring exercise recently, the report added. 

Earlier this year, Inc42 reported that Flipkart was actively working on shifting its domicile from Singapore to Gurugram, with an eye on going public in the next 12-18 months. As part of this, the company, in recent months, has restructured its board and the leadership, cut corners and streamlined subsidiaries that are still making losses. 

However, the company could be staring at a hefty tax bill. For context, Walmart-owned PhonePe had to cough up $1 Bn in taxes to shift its domicile back to the country. For Flipkart, which is one of the most valued startups in the country and was last pegged at $36 Bn, the tax outgo could likely be much higher. 

The development comes at a time when a slew of foreign-domiciled new-age tech companies are looking to move back to India. Last week, fintech major Pine Labs secured the final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to merge its India and Singapore entities.

In January, fantasy sports platform Dream11’s board approved the merger of its US entity, Dream Sports Inc, with its India entity, Sporta Technologies Pvt Ltd, by leveraging the recently implemented fast-track mechanism to complete its reverse migration.

In the same month, quick commerce unicorn Zepto’s CFO Ramesh Bafna confirmed that the company shifted its domicile back to India from Singapore ahead of its initial public offering (IPO).