New Delhi: 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.
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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.
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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.
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“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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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‘Unfair subsidies’
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Media reports said Bezos has sought a meeting with Modi, but neither the government nor Amazon would confirm if talks would be held.
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Amazon has said it will cooperate with the investigation and was “confident” it was operating legally.
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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.
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“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.
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“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.”
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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.
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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.
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Agarwal highlighted special deals with mobile phone makers under which they are sold online, often at discount, before they reach high street shops.
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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.
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About 50 traders held a rally in Delhi chanting “Jeff Bezos – Go Back!”
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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.
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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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