Alibaba has suspended plans to invest in Indian companies and will not put in new money to expand its investments in India for at least six months, Reuters said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The plan does not include reducing its stake in companies in which it has already invested or exiting the investment. Companies in which Alibaba has already invested in India include Paytm, Zomato and BigBasket.
On June 29, India announced that it was banning 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, WeChat, QQ and UCWeb browser.
Last week, Zhang Yong, chairman and chief executive officer of Alibaba, said on during the company's analyst call for the first quarter of fiscal 2021 that based on sustainability concerns Alibaba has decided to discontinue the services of UCWeb and other innovative businesses in India.
Zhang added that the move is not expected to have a significant impact on the company's financial situation.
Media reports said that in mid-July, Alibaba's Indian products UC Browser, UC News, and the short video Vmate all informed local employees of their impending dissolution via an internal company letter.
At the end of July, Reuters reported citing documents as saying that Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma was summoned by an Indian court in a case in which a former employee in the country says he was wrongfully fired and is seeking $268,000 in damages.
