An Indian government agency has summoned Amazon.com Inc’s top management in the country, along with officials from Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL), to question them about a botched deal, the Economic Times reported.
The Indian Enforcement Directorate (ED) — the agency that investigates offenses related to money laundering — is examining whether Amazon, which was founded by Jeff Bezos, was in breach of India’s foreign-exchange laws when it invested 14.3 billion rupees (US$190.5 million) to purchase a 49 percent stake in FCPL in 2019, the newspaper said.
FCPL owns about 10 percent of Future Retail Ltd, the flagship entity that runs the Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar and Easyday chains.
“We are in receipt of summons issued by the ED in connection with the Future Group,” an Amazon spokesperson told the newspaper. “As we have just received the summons, we are examining it and will respond within the given time frame.”
The Future Group did not respond to a request by the Economic Times for comment.
Amazon, which is trying to block Mukesh Ambani — Asia’s richest man — from taking over the struggling Future retail chain, last week said that money from the local firm was allegedly diverted to other companies.
Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd and Amazon are fighting for a bigger slice of the only billion-people-plus consumer market that remains open to foreign firms.
The Indian government has asked Starlink Internet Services of Elon Musk’s rocket maker Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) to comply with the country’s regulatory framework before offering its satellite-based Internet services.
The Indian Ministry of Communications said in a statement late on Friday that because Starlink is not the holder of a license, the public is advised not to subscribe to Starlink services that are being advertised.
“The same is also evident from the Web site of Starlink (www.starlink.com), wherein satellite-based Internet services can be booked by users in the Indian territory,” it said.
There was no immediate comment from Musk’s company.
Media reports said that SpaceX has been accepting preorders for a beta version of the service for a fully refundable deposit of 7,400 rupees.
Additional reporting by AP
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS