General Atlantic to invest $498.31 million in India's Reliance Retail

US Private equity firm General Atlantic's $498.31 million investment for a 0.84% stake in the retail arm of India’s Reliance Industries boosted the latter's shares by as much as one percent to $30.83.

Reliance, which is diversifying from its oil-and-gas business, is perceived as a formidable rival to Amazon.com Inc and Walmart Inc’s Flipkart in India.

General Atlantic's investment gives Reliance Retail a pre-money valuation of $58.17 billion.

Reliance also operates around 12,000 brick-and-mortar stores on top of the online grocery service it launched in May.

Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani said their company would leverage General Atlantic’s extensive expertise in technology and consumer businesses to expand its online commerce venture.

Reliance Retail would tie neighborhood stores for online deliveries of groceries, electronics, and apparel.

With General Atlantic's investments, Reliance has now raised around $2.3 billion for its retail arm.

General Atlantic also invested in Reliance's digital business Jio platforms.