Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart raises record $1bn fund

Flipkart has 22 million registered users and handles over 150,000 shipments a day

India's largest e-commerce company Flipkart has raised $1bn (£590m; 60bn rupees) in fresh funding, the largest ever for an Indian internet firm.

Founded in 2007 by two former Amazon employees, the company is hugely popular for selling books and electronics online.

It has 22 million registered users and handles over 150,000 shipments a day.

Earlier this year, Flipkart acquired fashion portal Myntra and exceeded $1bn in annual sales.

India's e-commerce market was worth $13bn in 2013, with online travel accounting for more than 70% of transactions.

According to research firm Forrester, online sales of retail goods were worth $1.6bn last year, but with the growing reach of internet in the country and more people shopping online, it is expected to reach $76bn by 2021, according to consulting firm Technopak.

Correspondents say Flipkart is competing for a bigger slice of the Indian online retail market with the Delhi-based marketplace Snapdeal, fashion e-tailer Jabong, and global e-commerce sites like Amazon and eBay.

In the last seven years, Flipkart had raised $760m and the recent funding is the largest for the company.