Bezos promises $1 billion in bid to see off Indian e-commerce storm
Bezos promises $1 billion in bid to see off Indian e-commerce
storm
New
Delhi (AFP) - Amazon tycoon Jeff Bezos promised Wednesday a new billion-dollar
investment in India, just two days after authorities launched an anti-trust
investigation into the e-commerce giant.
A three-day visit by Bezos, whose worth has been estimated at
more than $110 billion, sparked protests in New Delhi and other cities by
traders who accuse Amazon and its main US-owned rival Flipkart of killing off
India's army of street traders.
Bezos, who has spent heavily to make his company an e-commerce
titan in the world's second most-populous nation, sought to head off critics by
promising one billion dollars to digitise small and medium-sized Indian
businesses.
"We will use our global footprint to export $10 billion
worth of 'Make in India' products across the world by 2025," he said,
referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's campaign to boost national
production.
Bezos highlighted India's growing importance, saying "the
21st century will be the Indian century" and that the US-India alliance
will be the most important.
Amazon and Flipkart -- founded in India but taken over by
Walmart in 2018 for $16 billion -- face increasing scrutiny and resentment
despite their popularity among customers.
The Competition Commission of India announced Monday that it was
investigating both companies over accusations they undermine traditional
traders by favouring "preferred sellers" on their platforms.
- 'Unfair subsidies' -
Media reports said Bezos has sought a meeting with Modi, but
neither the government nor Amazon would confirm if talks would be held.
Amazon has said it will cooperate with the investigation and was
"confident" it was operating legally.
The commission, which last year fined Google $21 million for
abusing its dominant position, said it will report in 60 days, but its
inquiries normally take a lot longer.
"We are not against e-commerce," said Sumit Agarwal,
national secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders, which says it represents
70 million small businesses.
"We just want the commission and the government to set up a
fair and equitable playing field where the Amazons and Flipkarts cannot abuse
the system with unfair subsidies and their favoured traders."
The Hindu nationalist government is to announce a new e-commerce
policy by March, and is under pressure to help small businesses because of a
slowdown in the economy and high unemployment.
The merchants accuse Amazon and Flipkart of flouting India's
tough foreign investment rules and pouring billions of dollars into discounts
that harm traditional traders.
Agarwal highlighted special deals with mobile phone makers under
which they are sold online, often at discount, before they reach high street
shops.
He said 55,000 of the 100,000 small traders who have gone out of
business in the past six months -- when Amazon and Flipkart have fought a
merciless price cutting war -- were mobile phone sellers.
About 50 traders held a rally in Delhi chanting "Jeff Bezos
- Go Back!"
After arriving Tuesday, Bezos paid tribute to India's
independence leader Mahatma Gandhi, dressing in an Indian kurta to lay flowers
at a memorial in Delhi.
Bezos will also visit India’s financial capital Mumbai, where he
will reportedly attend a party with Bollywood celebrities on Thursday.
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