India's open e-commerce may quietly close another door for Amazon, Flipkart

An assault on the economics of digital platforms will possibly rank among the most far-reaching separations of platforms and commerce seen anywhere.

The investing world is enthralled by a determined Beijing as it cuts China’s private sector down to size by relentless regulatory action. That’s good news for New Delhi: Its more subtle maneuvers in the same direction are going largely unnoticed.

Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart, however, would surely have felt the rising temperatures. Even as they weigh draft e-commerce rules that seek to restrict online marketplaces--not just theirs, but also the planned super-app by India’s Tata Group--a new existential threat lurks around the corner: a state-sponsored open network for digital commerce.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has set up a