Brief: Amazon injects $260m more into India to fight off Chinese rivals

Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon. Photo credit: Steve Jurvetson.

The news:

• Amazon pumped US$260 million into its India unit last month, according to a regulatory filing. This is part of the US$5 billion investment that Amazon boss Jeff Bezos committed to its Indian arm.

• Amazon India has so far received nearly half of that commitment: US$2.3 billion. It has been investing in warehouses, logistics, and broadening its product range.

Why it matters:

• The ecommerce battle has heated up this year, with SoftBank’s US$1.4 billion investment in Alibaba-backed Paytm, and a matching US$1.4 billion into Flipkart led by Tencent. Negotiations are on for the sale of a struggling third Indian player, Snapdeal, to Flipkart, which makes it a three-cornered battle.

• Amazon lost out to Alibaba in China, but is on stronger footing in the neutral territory of India’s relatively more open market to beat its Chinese rivals.

See: Pros and cons for Alibaba in battle with Amazon on neutral ground in India

Source: Mint.