After Walmart, Amazon Lobbies In U.S. For Indian FDI

By siliconindia | Monday, 03 February 2014, 10:25 Hrs

The company launched operations in India in June last year with its marketplace model, under which Amazon.in does not sell products directly to customers but only provides a platform to sellers.

The issue of lobbying among the U.S. lawmakers for FDI in India had snowballed into a major political controversy late in 2012 after such disclosures by Walmart came to the fore.

The government later announced a probe into Walmart's lobbying activities, but the inquiry remained inconclusive in absence of sufficient evidence for any wrongdoings.

Lobbying is legally permitted in the U.S., but the companies and their lobbyists need to mandatorily file disclosure reports every quarter for such activities.

Interestingly, Walmart did not lobby on any India-specific issues during the last quarter, when its total lobbying expenses stood at $ 1.95 million and one of the issue for lobby included "discussions regarding investments overseas".

In the second quarter of 2013 also, Walmart had halted