BackAmazon invests another Rs1,980 crore in India business
Amazon India has now received Rs7,679 crore since July 2014, when CEO Jeff Bezos promised to invest $2 billion in India
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Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, has pumped in another ₹ 1,980 crore into its Indian business, as the company increases its pace of investment at a time when local rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal are facing pressure from investors to cut losses as well as keep off Amazon from overtaking them.
Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd, the Indian unit of Amazon, received ₹ 1,980 crore last week, the single largest tranche of funds received by the company since 2014, according to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies. This follows another fund infusion of ₹ 1,696 crore in December.
Amazon India has now received ₹ 7,679 crore since July 2014, when CEO Jeff Bezos promised to invest $2 billion in India.
Amazon didn’t respond to an email seeking comment till the filing of this report. The Economic Times newspaper reported Amazon’s latest fund infusion earlier.
Since launching in India in June 2013, Amazon has applied its mantra of low product prices, wide product selection and fast and reliable delivery to gain popularity with shoppers.
Though its strategy has been expensive, it seems to be working. Last year, Amazon gained market share from Flipkart Ltd and Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd).
Partly because of pressure from Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal are finding it tough to raise additional funds at their current valuations.
Mint reported on 4 February that China’s Alibaba Group, which has backed Paytm and Snapdeal, is looking to increase its footprint in India and is exploring the acquisition of a stake in India’s largest Internet firm Flipkart, according to three people familiar with the matter, who did not want to be named.
Alibaba is also talking to Snapdeal, two of the three people said, but it wants a discount on the firm’s current valuation of $6.5 billion.
There are not too many takers for India’s top e-commerce firms at their current valuations, prompting both Flipkart and Snapdeal to approach Alibaba Group for cash.
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