Bengaluru: Amazon posted a record profit of about $2 billion for the December quarter but the global behemoth’s international loss more than doubled in 2017 as it increased investments in India, its most important market outside the United States. Amazon’s international loss increased to $3 billion in 2017 from $1.28 billion in 2016, while sales jumped to $54 billion from $43.9 billion.Amazon infused about Rs 6,200 crore (about $970 million) into its main India unit, Amazon Seller Services, between July and December, and another Rs 1,950 crore last month. The India unit is locked in a bruising battle with larger domestic rival Flipkart , which, too, has raised record capital.“Amazon’s biggest prize now is India,” said Vivek Wadhwa, Fellow, Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Engineering. “There is no comparable market that is left. China has already been lost to Alibaba and others; India is the consolation prize.”Amazon recently introduced its Alexa smart speakers in India and is preparing to launch its music streaming service as well. India is also the fastest-growing market for the company’s Prime subscription service in terms of memberships, a point the Seattle-based e-commerce giant reiterated in its latest post-earnings conference call with analysts.“India continues to be a good story for us,” Amazon’s chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said during the call on Thursday in the US. “We feel that ( Amazon India ) had a lot of growth in the past year. In fact, more Prime members joined India’s Prime program in the first year than we’ve seen in any other country.”Amazon’s international sales growth in the final quarter of 2017 remained stagnant at 29% as compared with the preceding September quarter, but was much higher than the growth rate of 15-16% registered in the first two quarters of the year.The company’s US online retail business grew at a much faster clip, with North America sales surging at 42% year-on-year to $37 billion in the December quarter.In India, Amazon is strongly focused on its Prime customers, with Prime membership remaining among its hottest selling items. The number of products eligible for Prime service in India increased to more than 25 million items last year. The company held its first Prime Day sales in the country in July.Amazon is expected to surpass its $5 billion commitment to its India business, after its main Indian entity recently increased its authorised share capital to $4.7 billion. Amazon has so far invested about $3 billion in its India marketplace business.Amazon’s capital infusions into its main India business unit came in more frequently last year as Flipkart raised $4 billion last year from Japan’s SoftBank and other investors including China’s Tencent, and Microsoft and eBay.