Chinese Ecommerce Giant Alibaba To Set Up First India Office In Mumbai

Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba is reportedly setting up its first office in India in Mumbai. The 3,000 plus sq.ft. office will be located at the commercial Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) in Mumbai. Alibaba’s rival, US-based Amazon, also has a 30,000 sq ft head office in the same area.

Girish Shah, Director at The Wadhwa Group which owns the Platina building, confirmed the development. He said,“They are one of the most exciting and thriving ecommerce companies that have come to India, and we’re glad to provide them with 3,221 sq ft of a highly professional set-up, at a competitive rental rate, here in BKC.”

Alibaba has been operating in India since 2007. The marketplace had around 6 Mn registered Indian buyers and sellers, as of early 2016. In May 2015, through its marketplace AliExpress, Alibaba entered the Indian ecommerce market.

In August 2015, Alibaba invested $500 Mn in Snapdeal. Currently, it owns 40% stake in Paytm and 3% stake in Snapdeal, among others.

In September 2016, in a bid to provide platform users with tailor-made services for their business, Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba launched a programme called Trade Facilitation Centre (TFC). TFC programme allows Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to avail special benefits, dedicated support and customised value-added services besides providing dedicated facilities. To explore the establishment of an expanded TFC programme in India, Alibaba has entered into agreements with Kotak Mahindra Bank, IDFC Bank, Delhivery, DHL , and Aditya Birla Finance Ltd.

According to Morgan Stanley, the Indian ecommerce market is estimated to be $119 Bn by 2020. Earlier this week, global rival Amazon invested a fresh capital of $295 Mn (INR 2,010 Cr) in its main Indian unit, making it the single-largest capital infusion so far. The investment made the total capital invested in Amazon Seller Services to over $1 Bn (INR 7,000 Cr) in the last 12 months, according to regulatory filings. The new office at Mumbai will definitely cement Alibaba’s intentions to grab a chunk of Indian ecommerce market against

The new office at Mumbai will definitely cement Alibaba’s intentions to grab a chunk of the multibillion-dollar Indian ecommerce market against Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon.

The development was reported by Business Standard.