Speculative Amazon-Reliance Deal to turn Rivals into Allies?

Speculations were raised about the possibility of Reliance selling 40% of the company's retails business to Amazon for $20 billion.

This news was then dismissed by Reliance as mere speculation as if this deal was to be done then the two major e-commerce rivals would turn into allies and also impact the retail competition in India.

In the sector of e-commerce leadership in India, Amazon and Flipkart are the companies that are rivals to the Reliance chain of traditional outlets in India. There are chances that a reloaded retail market duopoly in India could give rise to the dominance of a single company in this sector.

India has still low internet penetration, hence if Amazon partners with Reliance it would be beneficial for the company as it is lacking brick and mortar presence in India.

If these two companies possibly come into partnership the only competition they would have would be of Walmart-Flipkart.

Speculations have been made about if the Amazon-Reliance would be done then how the FDI (foreign direct investment) rules would imply in this situation. In multi-brand retail, a 40% percent stake in Reliance would be less than the allowance of 51%.

100?I is allowed in e-commerce platforms. It is quite a puzzle to understand how the rules would play out in the speculated Amazon-Reliance deal.