The ecommerce giant, which sold a majority stake to Walmart in a $16bn (£11.8bn) deal last spring, has registered a new entity called Flipkart FarmerMart. The business will focus on selling local produce as it bids to grab a slice of India’s lucrative $500bn (£392.4bn) grocery market.

Flipkart boss Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the move formed “an important part of our efforts to boost Indian agriculture as well as food processing industry in the country.” He added that the company is ploughing $258m (£202.5m) into the new venture and is already working with hundreds of thousands of small farmers.