With an eye on Flipkart-Walmart deal, Amazon invests Rs 27 bn in India

As the massive $16 billion deal between Flipkart and Walmart, which will add a further $2 billion to the Indian firm’s warchest, nears closure, rival Amazon is ensuring that it keeps up the fast pace of investments in its India business.

Amazon Seller Services, the marketplace unit of the US online retail giant in India, received an infusion of Rs 27 billion (approx $385 million) earlier this month, according to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) which were sourced from business intelligence platform Paper.vc.

The Seattle-headquartered company also invested a further Rs 1 billion in Amazon Retail India, the food retail unit of the company which will drive its grocery category. Amazon had said that it would invest $500 million into food retail soon after the government opened the sector up to 100 foreign direct investment.

Amazon infuses Rs 26 bn in India, Jeff Bezos shows he still means business

After losing out to Walmart in acquiring online marketplace Flipkart, Amazon’s Chief Executive Jeff Bezos is keen to show that he still means business in India and has charged up the company’s local e-commerce unit with fresh funds.

Amazon Seller Services, the marketplace unit of the US online retail giant in India, saw a cash infusion of Rs 26 billion (approximately $390 million) late last month, according to documents filed with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) that was sourced from business intelligence platform Paper.vc on Tuesday.

The Seattle-headquartered company, earlier this month, is learnt to have made a bid to acquire a controlling stake in Flipkart with an investment of around $12 billion along with a $2 billion break-away fee. However, Flipkart board preferred to go with Walmart as the investors and founders were afraid that a deal with Amazon would run into regulatory hurdles.