Ant Financial set to take 25% stake in Indian payment company One97

An investment in an Indian payment service provider made by Zhejiang Ant Small & Micro Financial Services Group Co, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has two goals.

One is to get a share of the e-payment market in India, while the other is for parent Alibaba to expand into that country's underdeveloped e-commerce sector.

The Hangzhou-based Ant Financial has agreed to buy 25 percent of Indian payment services provider One97 Communications, tapping into the potentially huge online retail market in India, according to a statement on Thursday.