Amazon to invest 1 billion USD in India; Create 1 million jobs

January 18, 2020

On January 17, 2020, one of the world’s largest retailer Amazon announced that it has planned to invest 1 billion USD in India and generate 1 million jobs. Globally Amazon has increased its employee base four times.

Highlights

The retailer has been constantly facing rage of the small and medium enterprises in India for its discounts. In order to involve small and medium businesses, a mega summit called the smBhav was organized by Amazon in the capital on January 14, 2020. Around 3000 small and medium entrepreneurs attended the summit.

Analysis

According to the National E-Commerce Policy, 2019, the Indian E-Commerce market is estimated to reach 200 billion USD by 2026. As India is one of the largest markets in the world, the foreign E-Commerce giants are competing with each other to capture Indian market. This 1 trillion USD and smBhav moves of Amazon are best examples.

While it is important to allow the growth of the market, it is also equally important keep the factors influencing the growth at check. It includes

Regulation of customer data
Stimulating domestic digital economy
Regulatory issues
Export Promotion through E-Commerce. This is the most important factor as India should neither be used as dumping yard for foreign products nor be used as a service provider for foreign E-Commerce giants. Rather, local Indian goods and products should grow in terms of production making India a net exporter.