SoftBank’s $10B India Plan Gets Off The Mark With Investments In Startups

Japanese wireless provider SoftBank Corp. has pledged to invest $10 billion in India’s growing technology and online commerce sectors, according to a statement by the Indian government. SoftBank expects India’s online commerce market to grow to $500 billion in 10 years, according to the statement.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s chairman and chief executive, told India’s communications minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday that “India is the top most priority for SoftBank,” according to the statement.

SoftBank got off to an $800 million start to its plans in India, with investments in two Indian startups, online shopping portal Snapdeal, and ANI Technologies, which runs Ola Cabs, a cab service startup, on Tuesday.

Son, Japan’s richest man, “expressed great optimism” in India's changed investment climate under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Japan in September, according to a post by the Indian minister on his Facebook page.

“I shared with him the vision of Digital India, plan for boosting electronics manufacturing, building smart cities and the great potential of eCommerce,” Prasad said in the post on Monday.