After being banned for about three years in India, Chinese fast fashion behemoth Shein is gearing up to re-enter here in partnership with the nation’s leading retailer, Reliance Industries. According to the Wall Street Journal’s reports, the Indian government has approved the partnership between the Chinese brand and the retail unit of Mukesh Ambani’s RIL. Owing to the partnership between Shein and Reliance, the Chinese company will operate through the retail arm of Ambani’s RIL to tap one of the fastest-growing fashion markets globally.
For the unversed, among several Chinese applications, Shein was banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in June 2020 when the tension between China and India escalated on the Himalayan borders. The Ministry of Electronics & IT decided to prohibit several applications coming from China due to privacy and data security concerns. The ban extended beyond Shein and covered programmes like TikTok, UC Browser, ShareIt, Clash of Kings, etc.
Shein was started in 2008 by Chris Xu. The brand became popular among Indian women and girls for its inexpensive, fashionable clothing. In 2021, the Mod-led BJP government informed the Delhi High Court that Shein was forbidden in the national security and sovereignty of India. The government had stated in response to a petition that sought to stop Amazon from selling Shein’s products in India, “A blanket order for blocking the sale of Shein products in other platforms/websites cannot be passed by the Committee constituted under section 69A of the IT Act, 2000.”
According to Shein’s website, the US, India, Brazil, and Australia are the main suppliers of goods under the Shein brand. Only cotton from these nations and other approved areas, such as Bangladesh, Tanzania, and Pakistan, may be used in Shein’s manufacturing facility.
The company is likely to source fabrics from small businesses in India, which could help the company to diversify its supply outside of China because Shein is under scrutiny in the US over the sourcing of cotton, the report added citing sources. Shein was founded in China, but its headquarters are now in Singapore, and because of India’s approval, the government now views Shein as a non-Chinese entity, according to the report.
Shein was able to connect with India’s sizable young population thanks to the partnership with Reliance Retail. Reliance, on the other hand, might profit from Shein’s supply chain, technology, and brand recognition, according to the WSJ.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the company, that Shein raised $2 billion in its most recent fundraising round, valuing the company at $66 billion, or roughly a third less than a year earlier.
