New Delhi, March 8 (IANS): Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba on Wednesday announced the launch of an India-specific content platform -- We-Media Reward Plan 2 -- with an initial investment of Rs 5 crore, as part its plan to invest Rs 200 crore over the next two years to drive content distribution in the country.

The announcement was made here by Alibaba Mobile Business Group President He Xiaopeng, the co-founder of UCWeb, the mobile internet software and services business of Alibaba that has launched the India content drive.

"UC News, launched in June last year, has become one of the fastest growing apps in the country with a Monthly Active Users (MAUs) count of over 80 million in India," He said.

"According to our data, there are already at least 400,000 self-publishers in India, with a huge scope for growth in the market, especially in the niche categories," he said.

"The investment falls under Alibaba Digital Media and Entertainment Group's targeted investment of $7.2 billion in content over the next three years," he added.

Under the UC We-Media programme people get an opportunity to create, to write, share thoughts and engage with their followers on UC News, the company said in a statement.

Under the We-Media Reward Plan, 1,000 content writers will be recruited in India and Indonesia who will be able to earn at least Rs 50,000 per month through the UC News platform.