Amazon to boost India investment by $3bn

Amazon has said it will increase its investment in India by $3bn (£2.1bn), bringing the total amount invested in the country to more than $5bn.

The online retail giant announced a $2bn investment in India in 2014 and already employs 45,000 people there.

Chief executive Jeff Bezos said Amazon continued to see "huge potential" in India, its fastest-growing region.

In 2014, the firm said India was on track to become its "fastest country ever" to achieve $1bn in gross sales.

However, it faces competition from home grown e-commerce retailers Flipkart and Snapdeal.

Mr Bezos was speaking at a summit in Washington, attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"We have already created some 45,000 jobs and continue to see huge potential in the Indian economy," he told the US-India Business Council's leadership summit.

"Our Amazon.in team is surpassing even our most ambitious planned milestones."

In a letter, external to shareholders in April, Mr Bezos described Amazon's efforts to educate small business owners in India about selling online.

In February, it launched Amazon Tatkal, a service that enables sellers to get online in less than an hour, which Mr Bezos said had reached sellers in 25 cities.