Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is looking to launch its first fully-owned e-commerce business in India through its subsidiary, UCWeb Inc., Press Trust of India reported Sept. 5, citing a senior company official.
The new online marketplace could reportedly be launched within the company's current fiscal year ending March 31, 2020.
UCWeb Global Business Vice President Huaiyuan Yang told PTI on the sidelines of the Alibaba Philanthropy forum that the plan to launch an e-commerce unit in India would not have an adverse impact on Paytm Mall, which is 30.15% owned by Alibaba. The Chinese e-commerce giant also owns 3% of Indian online marketplace Snapdeal Private Ltd., PTI noted.
"We have Alibaba's e-commerce gene in us. We are actually trying to start innovative business model related to e-commerce. We are going to launch a new e-commerce product in India this year," Yang reportedly said.
Yang added that UCWeb will not compete with Paytm. The unit plans to start selling movie tickets online, the executive reportedly said.
