Is the Future deal controversy now over or will Amazon still put up a fight?

There are some options that Amazon is still exploring even as it has accused Reliance and Future group of collusion to keep Amazon out. Now, Amazon.com may ask the RBI to get lenders to declare Future Retail as a wilful defaulter over non-payment of loans worth ₹15,000 crore. It is not clear if the banks would be willing to do that without knowing the actual status of their loan repayments and considering that provisions have to be made.

The idea is to pressure banks to act against Future Retail after it defaulted on payments despite a loan recast done last year. This was inevitable for Amazon after Reliance Industries took possession of hundreds of department stores run by Future Retail by terminating their leases. Now the fear is that the lenders to Future Retail may not have enough assets to recover loans. That is the ***** in the armour that Amazon wants to target now.

In a way, Reliance was losing its patience after it had funded Future group leases and its inventory for more than a year now and after committing to the Rs.24,713 crore deal. Amazon is of the view that the intervention of RBI would force the banks to take decisive action. Amazon has been unhappy that the deal has gone through even through the case is still in pendency in the courts.