Narayan Murthy planning e-commerce joint venture with Amazon?

BANGALORE, INDIA: Infosys Ltd co-founder N R Narayana Murthy is close to entering into an e-commerce joint venture in India with Amazon.com Inc through his investment firm, Catamaran Ventures, according to reports.

Meanwhile, Catamaran confirmed the planned venture with Amazon Asia, the daily reported on Thursday.

Catamaran will hold a 51 per cent stake in the business, as required under India's foreign direct investment rules, the newspaper reported, citing sources.

The ET quotes Arjun Ramegowda Narayanswamy, head of Catamaran Ventures saying: "Catamaran is partnering with Amazon Asia to offer services that help offline sellers and SMBs in India to get online and to take advantage of the fast-growing online customer base in the country." He also added, "NRN does not have a board role at any of our investments."

 Amazon and Catamaran were not immediately available for comment.