Amazon preparing for India debut
Mumbai: The government's proposal to relax foreign direct investment (FDI) rules for overseas multi-brand retailers has thrown open the doors to Amazon.com's entry into the Indian market.
If the buzz is to be believed, then the Seattle, US-based online retailer is all set to foray into India by next year. The online pioneer already drawn plans and has begun hiring for local operations, sources said.
According to a report in the Independent, these hired include software engineers, information technology specialists and other staff. The hiring comes ahead of launch in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Amazon is said to have poached a senior executive from online retailer Landmark to head its India operation, and appointed a human resources director Raj Raghavan.
A same report said the company has put out recruitment ads on Twitter too. Queries sent to Amazon.com on its India plans remained unanswered till late Thursday evening.
Recent changes in the rules on foreign direct investment (FDI) allow multi-brand foreign retailers to hold up to 51% of equity and be the majority shareholder in an Indian venture.
As for Amazon's local partner, a name doing rounds is that of online book retailer Flipkart.com, promoted by Binny and Sachin Bansal, due to the synergies between the companies. But Sachin Bansal, CEO of Flipkart, denied any dialogue. 'We are not in any kind of talks with Amazon currently,' he said.
Bansal believes the US-based online retailer's foray into the nascent e-ecommerce space will spur the segment's growth.
'E-commerce in India is at a very nascent stage. The categories are evolving fast and this growth will only escalate with the entrance of serious players. We do not view this as development impacting Flipkart's plan to a great extent,' he said.
News Posted: 29 July, 2011
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