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Alibaba gearing up to enter Indian Ecommerce market

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China's largest online retailer Alibaba is keen on entering the Indian market in a big way in 2016. Alibaba Group president Michael Evans and global managing director K Guru Gowrappan met Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday and highlighted the company's interest in India.

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The Alibaba group has been gearing up to expand its presence in India and is exploring online marketplace opportunities against the backdrop of digital India, its president Michael Evans said after a meeting with Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.

"We plan to come here and work to serve both customers, consumers and, of course, small businesses because that is the history and the DNA of Alibaba. We are planning to enter the e-commerce business in India in 2016," he added.

Indian minister assuring strong support said, "Ecommerce is a rising phenomenon in India, growing at 50% plus, with a huge catchment area, which shows the potential of a big aspirational market.We will give them (Alibaba) full cooperation."

The Chinese group has already invested in Paytm and Snapdeal to gain a stronger foothold in the growing Indian e-commerce segment. As per reports, the company is mulling further raising its stake in Paytm.

India's e-commerce market is likely to touch $38 billion marks in 2016, a 67% surge over the $23 billion it clocked last year, according to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Assocham).

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