Amazon India launches Hindi website, shopping app in battle with Flipkart

Amazon.com on Tuesday launched a Hindi version of its mobile website and app for Android smartphones in a bid to make deeper inroads into India's fast-growing e-commerce market, stepping up its battle with Walmart's Flipkart unit.

None of India's other leading e-commerce portals - Flipkart, Snapdeal or Paytm Mall - currently have a local language version of their apps or websites, and the move to launch a Hindi app and website could give Amazon access to tens of millions of new customers in India's small towns and villages.

"What we believe is, Amazon.in in Hindi is a critical step to actually address the next 100 million customers," Manish Tiwary, Vice President, Category Management at Amazon India told reporters at a news conference.

Amazon is looking to win over the next 100 million customers in the country, its India head Amit Agarwal told Reuters in April. The country's e-commerce market is tipped to grow to $200 billion in a decade, according to Morgan Stanley.