Ratan Tata invests in online retailer Snapdeal

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Ratan Tata, the former chairman of salt-to-steel Tata conglomerate, has bought a stake in Indian online retailer Snapdeal, the company said on Wednesday, joining a list of funds who have invested in the country's growing e-commerce industry.

Snapdeal, an online marketplace that facilitates transactions between third party suppliers and customers, did not give the size or financial details of the deal.

Tata joins investors including Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Ltd, Tiger Global Management LLC and Accel Partners, who have invested in Indian online retailers, betting on growth in the $13 billion e-commerce sector.

Indian online firms have been raising funds to compete with bigger rival Amazon.com Inc and expand as more Indians shop online.

Snapdeal raised $100 million earlier this year from five investors including Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

Flipkart, the country's largest online retailer, raised $1 billion last month to scale up and counter increasing competition, while Amazon.com has said it would invest more than $2 billion in the country.

(Reporting by Aman Shah in Mumbai, editing by Louise Heavens)