HONG KONG: China’s Alibaba Group has put on hold plans to invest in Indian companies, two sources aware of the plans told Reuters, amid souring business relations and rising political tension between the two nations after a clash on their Himalayan border.
Hitting the brakes could slow fundraising plans for some of Alibaba’s investee companies in India, which include payments platform Paytm, restaurant aggregator and food delivery service Zomato, and e-grocer BigBasket.In its IPO filing, Ant said a change in foreign investment rules in India had led to a “further evaluation of the timing” of its additional investment in Zomato.
However, a border clash in June, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed, escalated tensions, and India imposed stricter curbs on Chinese goods and businesses amid calls for boycotts.