Paytm denies report that Ant Group may dump its stake worth almost $5 billion as India-China tension escalates

• Paytm has outrightly denied reports that one of its majority shareholders Ant Group may sell its entire 30% stake in the startup.
• A Reuters report stated that amid growing tensions between India-China, Ant Group was mulling a possible exit from the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company.
• With rising border tensions between India and China, Indian startups with Chinese investments have come under a lot of scrutiny.

Indian digital payments leader Paytm has denied reports that one of its majority shareholders Ant Group may sell its entire 30% (worth $4.8 billion) stake in the startup.

A Reuters report citing sources stated that amid growing tensions between India-China, Ant Group was mulling a possible exit from the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company. The Indian government has so far banned almost 220 Chinese apps this year.

However, a Paytm spokesperson denied the report. "The information is absolutely false and misleading. There has been no discussion with any of our major shareholders ever, nor any plans, about selling their stake or becoming the controlling shareholder. Our mission is to empower half a billion Indians with digital financial services and pursue the vast opportunity presented by the digital financial revolution in our country. We are seeing a dramatic increase in revenues and acceleration of our path to breakeven,” a Paytm spokesperson told Business Insider.

The rising tension between India and China at the Ladakh border has led the government in New Delhi to crack down on foreign direct investments (FDI) from China.

Paytm had earlier faced backlash on Twitter as well for its investments from the Chinese giant.

Chinese investors have pumped in an estimated $4 billion into India’s tech startups, which includes bets on 18 out of the country’s 30 unicorns, according to a Gateway House report. The scepticism around Chinese investments in India has been rising, which affects some of the biggest startups in India like Paytm, Ola, Byju’s and more.

China’s biggest funds and their bets in India

Tencent	Byju’s, Ola, Dream11, Flipkart, Hike, Swiggy, Udaan, Niyo, Gaana, Doubtnut, Khatabook, MX Player, Pine Labs, Pocket FM, Practo, MyGate.
Alibaba	Paytm, Bigbasket, Paytm Mall, Snapdeal, Zomato, Healofy, Ticketnow, Rapido, Vidooly, Xpressbees
Xiaomi	Hungama, Sharechat, Rapido, ZestMoney, Oye! Rickshaw, City Mall, Marsplay Internet

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