China-based e-commerce firm Alibaba is pausing future deals in India to review its strategy in the country, LiveMint has reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Alibaba’s four-person India team, helmed by Raghav Bahl since August 2018, has been instructed to focus on its existing portfolio, the sources told LiveMint, though an Alibaba spokesperson insisted the corporate remained committed to its presence in the country.
A second source claimed Alibaba was lukewarm on the potential strategic benefits of Indian investments, and would rather pour resources into solidifying exits rather than adding risky bets.
The company’s Indian portfolio includes e-commerce platforms Paytm Mall and Snapdeal, though neither has managed to overhaul Amazon and Flipkart in terms of market share.
Meanwhile, the corporate’s two largest India-based portfolio companies – mobile payment platform Paytm and restaurant and food delivery service Zomato – are both reportedly pursuing fresh capital, with the latter said to be targeting $500m.