Alibaba to invest over $500m in Indian startup

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is reportedly interested in investing about $575 million in Delhi-based online-shopping site Paytm, Indian newspaper The Economist Times reported on Sunday.

According to the Economist Times, if Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Singapore-based Temasek Holdings would invest in Paytm, they will gain a 25-30 percent stake in a mobile-Internet company One97 Communications Ltd, the parent firm of Paytm. The expected fund will supposedly be used for strengthening mobile operations and customer acquisition.

The potential deal would raise Paytm's value to $1.5-1.9 billion.

The investment would be Alibaba's first foray into India's rocketing e-commerce industry. According to the Wall Street Journal, companies such as Amazon.com Inc and SoftBank Corp are betting on an online shopping boom in the world's second-most-populous country.

Neither Alibaba nor Temasek has publicly commented on the investment.