Reliance Industries Ltd has acquired a majority stake in online pharmacy Netmeds for about 6.2 billion rupees ($83.08 million) in cash, days after e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc launched an online drug sales service in India.

This investment represents around 60 per cent holding in the equity share capital of Vitalic and 100 per cent direct equity ownership of its subsidiaries -- Tresara Health Private Limited, Netmeds Market Place Limited and Dadha Pharma Distribution Pvt Limited, the statement said.

Vitalic and its subsidiaries, collectively known as Netmeds, were incorporated in 2015. Netmeds is a licensed e-pharma portal that offers authenticated prescription and over the counter (OTC) medicine along with other health products in India.

"It is indeed a proud moment for 'Netmeds' to join the Reliance family and work together to make quality healthcare affordable and accessible to every Indian.With the combined strength of the group's digital, retail and tech platforms, we will strive to create more value for everyone in the ecosystem, while providing a superior Omni Channel experience to consumers," Netmeds founder and CEO Pradeep Daddha said.

Netmeds is a fully licensed e-pharma portal which offers authenticated prescription and Over the Counter (OTC) medicine along with other health products. It offers a pan-India solution for the online purchase of prescription medications to over 20,000 pin codes.

Netmeds is promoted by Dadha Pharma, a Chennai-based company. The Dadha family's pharmaceutical experience dates back to 1914, when they ventured first into the pharma retailing business and then into drug manufacturing in 1972.

The COVID-19 crisis, which spurred a wave of online shopping, has led to increased competition between Amazon, Walmart-owned Flipkart, Reliance's upstart online grocery service, JioMart and a range of other smaller players for a share in the world's second most populous country.

India is yet to finalize regulations for online drug sales, or e-pharmacies, but growth of online sellers such as Medlife, Netmeds, Temasek-backed PharmEasy and Sequoia Capital-backed 1mg has threatened traditional drug stores.

Many trader groups are against e-pharmacies, saying they would lead to sale of medicines without proper verification.r

With Inputs from : www.ndtv.com