When Alibaba reported sales of $25bn on its Singles’ Day extravaganza in November, the sum comfortably surpassed estimates of total Indian ecommerce turnover in the whole of last year. 

That has not stopped the Chinese tech giant from making India its first major overseas foray, as it pumps investment into the country at a growing pace. In the past week alone it has secured a $200m stake in leading online grocery group BigBasket, while its payments affiliate Ant Financial agreed to pump the same sum into food-ordering app Zomato. 

These moves came on the heels of a recent investment in logistics group XpressBees, which slotted in the final element of a three-pronged business model that Alibaba honed on its home turf: shopping, payments and delivery.