India’s online retail industry is expected to surge to 70 billion rupees ($1.43 billion) by 2015 from 20 billion rupees as broadband availability becomes more common and the number of Internet users grow, the Associated Chambers of Commerce said in a July report.

via Amazon Starts India Shopping Service as Internet Market Grows – Bloomberg.

This is not a major news that Amazon would be interested in India. However, what is fascinating is that the Indian Government is protecting the Indian retail sector by preventing non-Indian retail powerhouses from getting into India, while the Indian retail business gain major ground. I am sure that within a year, Reliance is going to open an eCommerce website along with the rest. Now, this makes for a very interesting challenge to overcome. That said, eBay does have Indian presence.

Can someone enlighten me of the story there? I want to say it’s because they bought baazee.com. However, could not get the details out.