BENGALURU : Amazon.com Inc's India unit said on Wednesday it would replace all single use plastic in its packaging by June 2020 with paper cushions, the latest major company to join the country's fight against environmental pollution.

Amazon's move comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's upcoming ban on plastic bags, cups and straws.

In the competitive fashion e-tailing segment, smaller e-tailers and online-first private labels are now flocking to the sector’s mega marketplaces in order to survive. Consider how fashion marketplace Voonik, which has pivoted its business model to become a fashion brand, recently launched 350 products on Snapdeal. The start-up also plans to introduce its products on Amazon and Flipkart-owned Myntra.

Amazon.com defended its business strategies in India as it came under fire from a local trader group on Friday over discounted products on the global e-commerce giant's website.

New e-commerce foreign investment rules that took effect in India from February were designed to help small traders by curbing heavy online discounting, but traders have complained that big online retailers use complex business structures to circumvent the rules and continue to burn billions of dollars to offer discounts.

Amazon India’s new delivery centre in Pune has emerged as its largest facility in the country at a time when the e-commerce major has doubled its delivery network in Maharashtra in the last six months. The 40,000-sq ft delivery station in Pune’s IT hub in Hinjewadi is part of Amazon India’s aggressive expansion in Maharashtra where it has taken its direct delivery presence to 900 pin codes with the ability to deliver in one to two days at these locations and penetrate further into smaller towns.

Amazon is in late-stage talks to acquire as much as 10% of Kishore Biyani’s Future Retail, people familiar with the negotiations said, as the US company moves to bolster its brick-and-mortar presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing retail markets.

India’s No. 2 retailer by turnover, Future is seeking a valuation of about Rs 2,000 crore ($281 million) from Amazon for the stake, according to the people, who asked not to be identified.

American e-commerce giant Amazon is in advanced stage of discussions with Future Retail Ltd for picking up 8-10 per cent stake in the Indian retail chain, according to sources.

The deal with the Kishore Biyani-led company is expected to close in the next few weeks, sources close to the development said.

Amazon.com Inc.’s determination to offer shoppers the best deals is prompting merchants selling products on its marketplace to raise their prices on competing websites, a testament to the company’s growing influence over the e-commerce market.

Amazon constantly scans rivals’ prices to see if they’re lower. When it discovers a product is cheaper on, say, Walmart.com, Amazon alerts the company selling the item and then makes the product harder to find and buy on its own marketplace — effectively penalizing the merchant.

The Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing a deal Amazon.com Inc. made with Apple Inc. to sell iPhones directly on its e-commerce site, signaling the agency has increased oversight of the tech giant.

John Bumstead, who sells refurbished Apple products, said in a Facebook post last month that about seven lawyers and an economist from the FTC interviewed him about the deal.

Amazon.com Inc is in exploratory talks with Reliance Industries Ltd-owned Reliance Retail for buying up to 26% stake in India's biggest brick-and-mortar retailer, the Economic Times (ET) reported on Thursday.

Talks began after Reliance's negotiations with China's Alibaba Group to sell a stake in the retail entity fell through due to differences over valuation, the financial daily reported citing two senior industry executives.

While Jeff Bezos’ Amazon, along with other big technology firms, faces regulatory scrutiny in the US and antitrust investigation in the European Union, the e-commerce giant has found another critic in American Treasury Secretary, who accused it of ruining the country’s retail industry. “If you look at Amazon, though there are certain benefits to it, they have destroyed the retail industry across the United States.

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