Adani Group shelves super app plans amid losses: Report

Adani Group has reportedly scrapped plans to build a consumer-facing super app amid mounting losses. The company folded its standalone digital unit, Adani One, into its airport holdings division earlier this year.

Chief Digital Officer Nitin Sethi, who was overseeing Adani One, has reportedly left the organization, Bloomberg reported. Besides, several other employees, who were part of billionaire Gautam Adani’s ambitious project, have also exited amid an internal probe into the mismanagement of the business.

Storyboard18 could not independently verify the report.

The Group has invested close to $100 million in the digital venture over the past three years, but Adani One has struggled to turn profitable.

Adani One was launched in 2022 as a crucial move in the company's “digital" journey. The app began services for Adani's airports, but aimed to create a digital twin to traditional businesses.

The app allowed users to book flights, hotels, accesslounges at airports, shop duty-free products, avail cabs and parking slot and other services across the group's seven airports, including Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, Sardar Vallabhbhai International Airport (SVPI) in Ahmedabad; the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA) at Guwahati, and others.

Inspired by the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat and ByteDance Ltd's Douyin, the app was meant to integrate offerings from across Adani's sprawling infrastructure empire, with a goal of reaching one in three Indians by the end of the decade.

The app had 30 million users as of March 31, 2024, and had aimed to grow 500 million user base by 2030.

The group acquired a 74% stake in Flemingo Travel Retail and its Mumbai Travel Retail unit last year, which operates duty-free outlets at major Indian airports. The company also announced a partnership with ride-hailing platform Uber, offering customers dedicated pick-up zones from its seven airports.