Amazon launches Prime loyalty program in India

Employees of Amazon India are seen behind a glass bearing the company's logo inside its office in Bengaluru, India, August 14, 2015. REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Files

REUTERS - Amazon.com launched its popular Prime loyalty program in India on Tuesday, three years after its entry into the world's second-most populous country. The world's biggest online retailer has been pumping billions of dollars into India as it seeks to win a bigger share of a market dominated by homegrown e-retailer Flipkart. Prime members will get free one-day or two-day delivery service with no limit on order size, and early access to some deals. Prime membership will cost 499 Indian rupees ($7.41) per year, rivaling Flipkart's own offering Flipkart First, which is priced at 500 Indian rupees per year. Amazon said it was offering users a free trial period of 60 days for the Prime service. ($1 = 67.3603 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Alan John Koshy in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)