Flipkart, Indian e-commerce giant, has raised another $3.6bn ahead of an expected stock market debut.

The fund will be used to expand operations and invest further in its grocery, fashion and delivery service.

The latest round of fund-raising increased the firm’s value to $37.6 billion.

The new valuation is more than double the amount the American retail chain paid for a majority stake in Flipkart three years ago.

Flipkart’s chief executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy said the new funds would support the company’s expansion plans: “As we serve our consumers, we will focus on accelerating growth for millions of small and medium Indian businesses.”

“We will continue to invest in new categories and leverage made-in-India technology to transform consumer experiences and develop a world-class supply chain,” Krishnamurthy added in company statement.

The new round of funding was led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Japan’s SoftBank and Walmart.

The deal marks the return of SoftBank, which sold its stake of around 20% of Flipkart to Walmart as part of the 2018 deal.

Other investors included sovereign wealth funds from Malaysia, Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The fund-raising came as the Walmart-backed company based in Bengaluru, said it is expected to make its stock market debut as early this year.

In 2018, Walmart paid $16 billion for a 77 percent stake in Flipkart and said later said that it could take the company public within four years.

In September, the Reuters news agency reported that Flipkart was preparing for an initial public offering outside of India as early as this year, in a move which could value it at as much as $50 billion.