Amazon gets Rs 1,460 cr boost from parent

New Delhi: US-based e-commerce giant Amazon has infused fresh capital to  the tune of Rs 1,460 crore into one  of its India units, Amazon Seller  Services, according to regulatory  documents.

Amazon Corporate Holdings Pvt  Ltd, Singapore and Amazon.com  Inc Ltd, Mauritius have made the  Rs 1,460 crore investment in the  unit, documents filed with the corporate affairs ministry and shared  by market intelligence firm Tofler  showed.

Amazon Seller Services operates the company’s marketplace  that helps sellers to sell their products online in India and internationally. The board of directors of  Amazon Seller Services passed the  resolution at their meeting on October 29, 2021.

E-mails sent to Amazon India  seeking comments on the fund  infusion did not elicit a response.

According to the data, a significant share of the funds (Rs 1,459.9  crore) came from Amazon Singapore. The fresh funds will provide  more arsenal to Amazon in India  to compete against rivals like  Walmart-owned Flipkart. Amazon  has been aggressively investing in  expanding infrastructure and adding solutions to enhance consumer  and seller experience.

Last month, Amazon had also  infused Rs 1,000 crore into its payments unit in India, Amazon Pay.  The Rs 1,460 crore infusion into  Amazon Seller Services was made  during the festive season.

Amazon India had said it has  seen the highest number of customers shopping on its platform  “than ever before”, with 79 per  cent of new customers coming  from tier II and III towns like Ernakulam, Guntur and others.

Customers from 99.7 per cent  pin codes had shopped on the  platform during its month-long  festive sale.

Amazon.in, which kickstarted  its Great Indian Festival 2021 on  October 2 with Prime Early Access and went live for all customers on October 3, said more than  10 lakh customers purchased a  smartphone from the platform  for the first time during the festive sale. -(PTI)

Future Directors’  Fresh Salvo

New Delhi: Independent directors of  Future Retail Ltd have shot off  another letter to the Competition Commission of India (CCI),  citing internal communications  of Amazon to establish its contradictory statements before  courts and the anti-monopoly  body and sought revocation of  nod to Amazon-Future Coupons deal.

They accused Amazon of  submitting “completely opposite information’’ which was  “contradictory” to Amazon’s  own internal communications regarding the US giant’s  2019 investments into FRL’s  promoter company.

The letter also says that the  US giant was initially planning to pump money into FRL  through a proposed foreign  portfolio investment.

However, this plan was  buried soon after Press Note- 2 was issued by the government, which specifically  barred a foreign entity from  acquiring any stake or control  in a retail entity in India. -(PTI)