US-based e-commerce multinational Amazon has given a carte blanche to its Indian entity to go ahead and spend as much as it takes to make a clean sweep of the domestic market.

The e-commerce giant is willing to commit more than $2 billion over and above the $5-billion spend already committed, sources in the company told BusinessLine.

For starters, Amazon India has earmarked ₹150-200 crore for marketing spend alone, for its biggest sale event for the year, the Grand Indian Festival between October 1 and October 5. This is at least 3-4 times more than some of its other competitors, which are launching similar events around the upcoming festival season.

“For Amazon, India continues to be its highest priority investment. We continue to look at India as a key growth region and are committed to invest aggressively with a long-term horizon, and transform the way India buys and sells,” a spokesperson for Amazon India told BusinessLine.

Amazon’s move to pump in additional funds clearly shows that it is willing to spend big bucks to take a major share of the e-commerce market in the country. Flipkart’s CEO, in an earlier interview with this paper, had said the company is way ahead of its nearest competitor.

Amazon is learnt to have mandated its India team to clinch as many marketing deals as possible to move ahead of its nearest competitor Flipkart.

One of its big wins was being able to exclusively market some of the models of major mobile phone companies. Earlier, Flipkart used to get exclusive rights to market all the models of major mobile phone makers, which it lost out to Amazon for a short period of time.

The spokesperson said Amazon India has witnessed tremendous growth in the three years of its operations in the country, and is “already the leader on things that matter to customers, including selection, value and convenience.”

The company claims that Amazon.in continues to be the country’s largest store with over 80 million products offered by more than 1.2 lakh sellers from across India. The seller-base has grown over by 200 per cent over the last one year. Flipkart has nearly 1 lakh sellers on its platform.

The spokesperson said the company is launching a rewards and recognition programme for sellers.

It is also encouraging sellers to drive in-stock selection of products that are in high demand during the festival season so that customers can continue to shop for them all through the season and get them delivered quickly.

Sellers will be rewarded ₹100 per product they bring in-stock with minimum pre-decided units. Top three sellers will also get an all-expense paid trip to Seattle (Amazon HQ).