Amazon infuses Rs 1,600 crore into India entity as e-commerce wars intensify

This comes as ecommerce companies are battling it out to grow their market share and be one up against competitors in a constantly growing market.

Amazon, the global e-commerce giant, has infused Rs 1,600 crore into its India entity, regulatory filings showed, at a time when ecommerce companies are battling it out to grow their market share and be one up against competitors in a constantly growing market.

This is the second instance where Amazon has pumped in money into Amazon Seller Services, its arm in India, in a span of five months. This comes shortly after Walmart invested $600 million into Flipkart, the homegrown rival to Amazon.

“...hereby accorded for allotment of 1,66,00,00,000 (One Hundred Sixty Six Crore) equity shares of INR 10/- (Rupees Ten Only) each aggregating to INR 16,60,00,00,000/- (Rupees One Thousand Six Hundred Sixty Crore Only) to the existing shareholders on right basis (to Amazon Corporate Holdings Private Limited and Amazon.com.incs Limited," said the regulatory fillings dated April 15.

The fresh capital infusion into Amazon Seller Services, the India arm of the e-commerce major, comes shortly after it had received Rs 830 crore from the global entity in February earlier this year, as reported by Moneycontrol.

The fresh investment is in line with Amazon’s plans for India. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the Seattle-based tech titan would invest an additional $15 billion in India by 2030, taking its total investment commitments in the country to $26 billion. This includes $12.7 billion that Amazon Web Services (AWS) said it would invest in India by the end of the current decade.

The American firm's investment into its India unit comes weeks after Walmart, the US-based retailer, infused $600 million into Flipkart, the homegrown e-commerce rival as both companies look to tap into the increasing India potential.

Flipkart and Amazon are locked in fierce competing in India, looking to bag the bigger share of a growing market. To be sure, the two are not just fighting against each other.

They are also facing competition from Meesho which is in the midst of raising $500-650 million, as reported by Moneycontrol earlier. The new investment also comes as Amazon recently launched Bazaar which will directly compete with SoftBank-backed Meesho.