07-Feb-18, Financial Times
When Alibaba reported sales of USD25 bn on its Singles’ Day extravaganza in Nov-17, the sum comfortably surpassed estimates of total Indian ecommerce turnover in the whole of last year.
![Alibaba targets India as key e commerce battleground (c) Morgan Stanley Research FT]](../images/400x286/Alibaba%20targets%20India%20as%20key%20e-commerce%20battleground_(c)%20Morgan%20Stanley%20Research_FT].png "Alibaba targets India as key e commerce battleground (c) Morgan Stanley Research FT]")
Image: Morgan Stanley Research / FT
That has not stopped the Chinese tech giant from making India its first major overseas foray. It has secured a USD200 mn stake in leading online grocery group BigBasket, while its payments affiliate Ant Financial agreed to pump the same sum into food-ordering app Zomato.
These moves came on the heels of a recent investment in logistics group XpressBees, which slotted in the final element of a three-pronged business model that Alibaba honed on its home turf: shopping, payments and delivery.