Asia

TicketNew owner Alibaba launches data centre in India

Alibaba Group, owner of Indian online ticketing platform TicketNew, has launched its first cloud data centre in the country.

The services provided on Alibaba Cloud include after-sales support, which will be provided by a local team of professionals.

“Indian enterprises are innovative and operating in growth sectors, and we look forward to empowering them through our cloud computing and data technologies,” Simon Hu, senior vice president of Alibaba Group and president of Alibaba Cloud, said.

“As we build out the Alibaba Cloud network globally, India is another important piece that is now firmly in place.”

The Chinese giant has made three major investments, amounting to around $1bn, in three different Indian companies, including TicketNew, digital wallet Paytm and e-grocer BigBasket.

Most recently, Alibaba bought a controlling stake in TicketNew, which claims to be India’s second-largest online ticketing platform after BookMyShow and has a presence in over 300 cities.

Alibaba, which offers its cloud services in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Middle East, Europe, and US, said that India is a key market for its cloud globalisation strategy.

However, despite being one of the largest cloud providers in Asia and having a local data centre, reports suggest Alibaba may have a hard time pushing its cloud services in the country. The Indian government has pushed to ban Chinese apps after fears mounted earlier this month that China could carry out cyberattacks.