Amazon to invest additional $3 billion in India

The Dollar Business Bureau

Amazon will make an additional investment of $3 billion in its operations in India to take its funding in the country to more than $5 billion, said Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s Founder and CEO on Wednesday.

“Amazon will invest $3 billion more in India. This is in addition to the $2 billion announced in 2014,” the Chief executive said at the annual event of US India Business Council (USIBC) in Washington, which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"I can assure you it is only the beginning and as we say in Amazon, it's only day one," Bezos said, while stating that the investments will help Indian start-ups and increase the role of the country as a hub for innovation and digital entrepreneurs. 

He mentioned that Amazon has already generated around 45,000 jobs in the country and sees vast potential in the nation’s economy.

The CEO said that that Amazon would establish a Web Services Cloud Region in Hyderabad in 2016. With that the company will have its largest centre for software engineering and development outside the US. The centre at Hyderabad will generate jobs and career opportunities for hundreds of people and with time, a considerable number of jobs will be created with the deployment of Amazon’s cloud services. Bezos said the company had till date built 21 fulfilment centres, having a storage space of more than 5 million cubic feet.

A mention should be made of Amazon’s tie-up with India Post which enabled the firm to cover all its operative postal codes across the country. 

Another multinational Star India, an arm of the mass media company - 21st Century Fox, also said that the company will invest an additional investment of $5 billion in India in the next three years. Uday Shankar, Chairman and CEO, Star India, said that the Indian market has a huge potential and we have been amongst the largest international investors in India in the media and entertainment segment.