US e-commerce giant Amazon is pumping in an additional Rs 2,600 crore capital into its India operations.
The fund infusion comes at a time when its Indian rival Flipkart is going through a strategic acquisition by Walmart.
According to the Registrar of Companies filing on Tuesday, which DH accessed, the company said Amazon Seller Services Private Limited issued 2,599,879,867 preference shares with a face value of Rs 10 each.
The fresh allotment of shares to the marketplace business in India, via its parent entity registered in Singapore, is one of the largest investment in India and got the company approval in 26th April 2018.
When contacted, the India spokesperson of Amazon said as India’s fastest growing e-commerce player with a long-term commitment to make e-commerce a habit for Indian customers, the company continue to invest in the necessary technology and infrastructure to grow the entire ecosystem.
"We are delighted and humbled by the trust from our customers, to lead in India on things that matter to our customers in five years of our business, while continuing to launch innovative India-first initiatives as well as completely new offerings like Echo, Prime, Prime Video and Prime Music,"said the spokesperson to DH.
According to Chief Executive of advisory services firm GrowthEnabler Rajeev Banduni the strategy of Amazon India is to take on the competition in the Indian market.
"Amazon India received Rs 1,950 crore in January from its parent company. This happened before it received its largest capital infusion of Rs 2,900 crore in November," he said.
Indian e-commerce is witnessing competition among Amazon and Flipkart and they have pumped in billions of dollars towards marketing and setting up infrastructure in the country.
According to a research report by Forrester, Flipkart along with its fashion subsidiaries Myntra and Jabong, control nearly 40% of India's online retail market. Its competitor Amazon is a close second with a 31% share.
India's $30 billion e-commerce market is expected to grow to $200 billion by 2026, sates Morgan Stanley.
