SoftBank: The aspiring Don of Indian startup industry

What if a couple of SoftBank's investments in India have gone bad; that's not stopping the Japanese Internet major to explore new frontiers in the country's startup industry.

According to reports, the solar-to-tech conglomerate is looking to up its ante and play a much bigger and consolidating role in the $65 billion sector ranging from e-commerce to fintech to groceries.

The deal-maker : Snapdeal's merger with Flipkart

Well, to start with, we all know about SoftBank's plans to strike a merger between Flipkart and Snapdeal. Last week, there were reports about SoftBank having finally convinced key shareholders including co-founders Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, Nexus Venture Partners and Kalaari Capital to sell the company to Flipkart, but the terms of the sale remained inconclusive. The deal is now expected to be to finalized by next week.

SoftBank chose Snapdeal over Flipkart and Paytm in 2014 and has since poured in approx. $1 billion in the company that has yielded little in terms of profits. The e-tailer lost out to Flipkart giving way to Amazon as the second biggest player in the Indian e-commerce industry. If the deal sees through, SoftBank may also invest $1 billion in the merged entity through a direct cash infusion.

Neutralizing Alibaba with a cash infusion in Paytm

Apparently, SoftBank is also in the final stages of investing over $1 billion into Paytm's digital payments business. The proposed move is two-pronged- While the cash infusion will give SoftBank a bigger say in the fintech company, it would also help Paytm leapfrog ahead of its competitors.

Aiming for a pie in the grocery market too

SoftBank isn't stopping just yet. Various reports suggest that the Japanese conglomerate is brokering a merger between online grocery delivery startup BigBasket and rival Grofers India. According to the people in the know of things, if the deal goes through, SoftBank Group — an existing investor in Grofers, will participate in a $60-100 million funding round in the merged entity.

Masayoshi Son's land of dreams

SoftBank's revised strategy and renewed interest in India is being attributed to founder Masayoshi Son who sees India as a land of many opportunities at the moment. Son knows that a Flipkart-Snapdeal merger would be tough nut for Amazon to beat.

SoftBank is also the biggest investor in local ride-sharing platform Ola that's locked in an intense battle with the US tech major Uber. Son, known for its profitable, early-stage bet on Alibaba is now looking to create similar success stories here in India.