Five years after being ousted from India, Chinese fast fashion giant Shein has made a comeback, this time in partnership with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries. The Shein India app was released on the Google Play Store on January 27 and has already been downloaded by over 10,000 users.
Unlike five years ago, Shein India is now operated and managed by Isha Ambani-led Reliance Retail, which already runs the fashion e-commerce platform Ajio and offline outlets under Reliance Trends. The firm has struggled to capture a large share of India's fast fashion market, which is dominated by players like Tata's Zudio and Flipkart's Myntra.
India’s fast fashion market grew by 30-40% in FY24 and is expected to surpass $50 billion by FY31, according to Redseer Strategy Consultants. However, the agency also noted that the market size, estimated at $10 billion in FY24, is still three times smaller than Shein’s global market value. Reliance’s partnership with Shein appears to be an effort to tap into this potential.
What About the Government’s Concerns?
Shein was banned by the Indian government in June 2020 amid escalating tensions with China. Since then, the Narendra Modi-led government has blocked over 300 Chinese apps, citing security concerns.
In December 2024, the Minister of Commerce and Industry told Parliament that while the Shein app was blocked, "the sale of Shein-branded products in India was not banned."
In response to an MP’s question, the government also revealed that Reliance Retail’s agreement is with Shein’s Singapore-based parent firm, Roadget Business Pte. Ltd. The partnership aims to "develop an indigenous e-commerce retail platform" and create a network of local manufacturers and suppliers to produce Shein’s products within India—contrary to the company’s usual overseas model.
The Commerce Ministry further said, "As per the agreement, at all times, the platform (Shein India) will be hosted on infrastructure in India, and all platform data (personal and non-personal data generated from the operation of the platform, including all data collected from Indian customers) will remain in India, with Shein having no access to, or rights over, such data."
The new app has followed through on this commitment, stating in its privacy policy that users' information will "primarily be collected, stored, and processed in India and will be governed by applicable laws (including data protection and privacy laws)."
Earlier reports suggested that Reliance Retail had started testing Shein’s backend technology on its Ajio platform.
