Over the past year or so, Jack Ma-led Alibaba Group has invested in Indian mobile wallet firm and online marketplace Paytm and e-commerce company Snapdeal. The Chinese e-commerce titan now plans to establish a direct presence in India this year, as it looks to expand outside its home market.
Alibaba is also exploring a tie-up with the Tata Group, The Economic Times reported on Monday. Although Alibaba has had an India site for years, it hasn’t scaled up significantly. But this could change in 2016. Alibaba’s expansion in India could drive consolidation in the e-commerce sector and could make life difficult for Indian e-commerce firms, particularly market leader Flipkart.
More importantly, an India entry will extend Alibaba’s rivalry with Jeff Bezos-led Amazon to the South Asian nation. Alibaba is the world’s largest e-tailer by gross merchandise value while Amazon is the biggest by market value and net revenue. A glance at Alibaba’s moves in the Indian market so far.
