Alibaba.com may launch joint venture in India

The new Indian company will be similar to the joint venture Alibaba.com set up with Japanese mobile-phone and Internet company Softbank Corp, the leading US financial daily said citing Chief Executive David Wei.
The Japanese joint venture caters to local small and midsize businesses.

"The most likely partners to be involved in the Indian JV are those that we are now cooperating with," Wei was quoted as saying in Shanghai. "I also don't want to pursue a majority stake in the JV."

"We are currently talking with them, it will definitely be a joint venture, and Alibaba does not seek to be a controlling stakeholder," he said.
Alibaba.com, the Hong Kong-listed business-to-business unit of Alibaba Group, is currently in partnership with India's Infomedia 18, a publishing outsourcing firm, to help Alibaba with customer service and sales and marketing.

India is Alibaba's second-largest overseas market by member base with 1 million members.

Alibaba connects millions of registered small-business buyers and sellers of Chinese products online. US search engine Yahoo holds about 40 percent of Alibaba Group and has an investment of more than 1 percent in the listed firm.