Now, Buy Air Tickets, Book Hotels On Flipkart 

Flipkart Ltd. will now let to buy train, air and bus tickets, and book hotels as the homegrown online retailer continues to add services in a highly competitive Indian market.

India's largest e-commerce company entered into a strategic partnership with country's biggest online travel operator MakeMyTrip, Flipkart said in a statement today. For now, domestic flights will be the first that will go live on Flipkart's platform in the next few days. Other segments like hotel, bus and holidays will be gradually added in the coming weeks.

The move will give SoftBank Group-backed company access to India's online travel segment that is projected to touch $48 billion by 2020, growing annually at 11-11.5 percent, according to a Boston Consulting Group and Google India report. All three properties of Nasdaq-listed travel firm—MakeMyTrip, Goibibo and redBus—will be available to Flipkart customers under a separate travel vertical.

Flipkart, locked in a three-way battle with Amazon.com and Alibaba and SoftBank-backed Paytm Mall for market dominance, is trying hard to diversify to become a one-stop shop for all digital transactions. Last year, it relaunched its grocery vertical and sought approval from the regulator to sell insurance. Paytm, the financial services company that's separate from the e-commerce arm, also sells air, train and bus tickets.

This strategic partnership will help make Flipkart a “one-stop destination” for all digital transactions online, Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer, said in the statement. It will also give MakeMytrip access to Flipkart's more than 100 million registered users. The companies didn't disclose other terms of the partnership.

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