Amazon Counters Flipkart, Announces Additional $2 Billion Investment in India

A day after Indian e-commerce company Flipkart announced it had raised $1 billion in funding, the biggest ever by an e-commerce firm, and the second biggest round of funding worldwide, Amazon has announced plans to invest an additional $2 billion in the Indian market.

Amazon said the funds would be used "to support its rapid growth and continue to enhance the customer and seller experience in India."

"After our first year in business, the response from customers and small and medium-sized businesses in India has far surpassed our expectations," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "We see huge potential in the Indian economy and for the growth of e-commerce in India. With this additional investment of US $2 billion, our team can continue to think big, innovate, and raise the bar for customers in India. At current scale and growth rates, India is on track to be our fastest country ever to a billion dollars in gross sales. A big 'thank you' to our customers in India - we've never seen anything like this."

Amazon has been a bit of an expansion spree in the country, having recently announced the decision to open five more fulfilment centres in India, in a bid to 'meet rapid growth.'

Amit Agarwal, Vice President and Country Manager, Amazon India had said at the time, "Sellers have greatly appreciated our Fulfilments by Amazon (FBA) service, a pay-as-you-go service and a key feature of our e-commerce platform. A Q1 2014 survey conducted with Sellers on Amazon India who have used FBA showed 85 percent of respondents reporting a sales increase since joining FBA and of these 40 percent of respondents reporting a sales increase of at least 30 percent."