The Qatar Investment Authority was considering a minority stake in Reliance Retail Ventures, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
One of them said the fund was considering a $1bn investment, giving it a stake of about 1 per cent and valuing the business at about $100 billion.
The people said the agreement had yet to be finalised and was subject to change. One person said the $450 billion fund had not yet approved it.
The negotiations take place as Reliance Retail makes significant investments to grow its consumer operations. The oil-to-data conglomerate Reliance Industries, India's largest firm with a market capitalization of $205 billion, is a subsidiary of India's largest shopping group by revenues, encompassing luxury apparel to groceries.
Ambani’s daughter, Isha, leads the retail business as the tycoon prepares his three children to succeed him. She has overseen a blitz of brand acquisitions - recently a chocolate company - as Reliance builds its retail offerings.
In a deal that valued Reliance Retail Ventures at around $62.4 billion at the time, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund invested $1.3 billion for a 2.04% share in the company in 2020. Two sovereign investment funds from Abu Dhabi and the New York-based private equity firm KKR are additional owners.