'Amazon of South Korea' Coupang looks to add India to cart

South Korean e-commerce giant, Coupang, is planning to enter the Indian market.

- NITIN KUMAR

The SoftBank-backed start-up has initiated dialogues with the Indian government to enter one of the world's largest e-commerce markets, government officials told Business Standard.

"We have received an application from the South Korean government, in which Coupang has expressed interest in entering India," said officials, adding that "dialogues with the Coupang delegation are likely to start next month".

A query sent to Coupang remained unanswered until the time of going to press. If the Seoul-headquartered firm, also known as the 'Amazon of South Korea', enters the Indian marketplace, it will take on home-grown Flipkart and Seattle-based Amazon.

Although the two giants have an established presence in the Indian market for the past decade, they are facing challenges from the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce and other indigenous e-commerce platforms, such as Reliance JioMart and Tata Digital. India is fast emerging as a lucrative e-commerce market but is still seen as underpenetrated. India's e-commerce market is projected to grow from $83 billion in 2022 to $150 billion in 2026, according to the FIS 2023 Global Payments Report.