Jack Ma had struck Alibaba-Paytm deal last January

Alibaba president Evans to be on 7-member board, new-look platform by Diwali

It was back in January 2016 when Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba, took the key partnership decision on entering the fast-growing online retail market, a source told Business Standard. Ma, in India at that point, narrowed down on Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s wallet-to-payments bank venture Paytm, where the Alibaba Group was already the largest investor, as a future partner for his e-commerce foray into India, it has been learnt. It was a one-on-one deal, without any merchant banker’s involvement.

A year later, the two sides are ready to announce a joint venture next week, while chalking out a