Amazon Invests Another Rs 1,680 Crore In India Unit
Latest infusion takes total capital invested by Amazon in its local arm to $2 billion.
The world’s largest e-tailer, Amazon Inc., has infused another Rs 1,680 crore in its India unit as it seeks to aggressively expand its business amid competition with homegrown rival Flipkart.
Amazon Seller Services Pvt. Ltd. received the latest capital infusion last month, documents filed with Registrar of Companies show. This takes the total amount invested by Amazon in its local arm to more than Rs 13,348 crore or roughly $2 billion versus its overall commitment of $5 billion.
The Seattle-based e-commerce company has been separately making investments in its payments, logistics and wholesale arms. In May alone, its payments unit, Amazon Pay India, received $10 million from Amazon Capital Holdings, Singapore, and Amazon.com Inc. Ltd.
Amazon has been investing heavily on increasing product assortment, ramping up its warehouses, discounting and marketing. In May, the company said it is doubling its storage capacity in the country by setting up seven new fulfillment centres by the end of the current quarter.
Indian rival Flipkart is also aggressively creating a war chest of capital. In April, it raised as much as $1.4 billion in fresh capital from new strategic investors, including China’s Tencent Holdings, eBay and Microsoft. Flipkart, which has raised more than $4.6 billion so far is currently in talks to buy out smaller rival Snapdeal.
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