Amazon: Not rattled by Flipkart, Ola protectionist call
A fortnight after Indian start-ups Ola and Flipkart sought government help in battling foreign rivals, Amazon's India chief stated that they were not hindered by the talks. The Amazon head said that the company's focus is on much higher value targets. He also confirmed that they are focusing on improving their infrastructure, technology and reach.
The Flipkart-Amazon battle
Internet e-commerce giants, Flipkart and Amazon, after making news with the extravagant offers and sales, are battling it out to clinch the top spot as India's biggest e-tailer. After a spate of senior exits, Flipkart has been grappling with huge competition from Amazon as it announced billions of dollars in investments in India. This resulted in Flipkart spending heavily on expansion and other investments.
Amazon clocks massive investments in India
According to Amazon's regulatory filings, the American e-commerce giant has invested over Rs.7,000 crore towards its Indian operations over the past 12 months.
Flipkart, Ola seeks government help to tackle Uber, Amazon
Earlier this month, Indian e-commerce company Flipkart and online cab aggregator Ola, sought government intervention to help curb the rise of foreign-origin rivals such as Amazon and Uber. Ola and Flipkart founders highlighted that the non-Indian companies are distorting capital. The founders also stated that the American companies would affect the creation of high-value jobs in the country.
Ola's founder highlights unfair competition
"It's much easier for non-Indian companies to raise capital because they have profitable markets elsewhere," said Ola's Aggarwal. "You might call it capital dumping, predatory pricing or anti-WTO but it's a very unfair playing field for Indian start-ups."
Amazon head on expansion and outlook plans
"Our journey in India has barely started. We have a very long-term outlook for India and if we execute well, there's no reason why India should not be one of our largest geographies. We will invest whatever it takes. I would stop tracking these numbers,"-Agarwal.
