Amazon to invest $233 mn to scale India operations

Amazon has announced its plan to invest over $233 million (more than ₹2,000 crore) in India market this year to develop infrastructure, upgrade technology and ensure well-being of its team members.

Amazon added in its press release that it will use this latest tranche of funds to open new sites, upgrade existing facilities, and create energy-efficient building systems to curtail energy usage.

The funds are being infused into the Indian market  at a time when the e-commerce giant is facing stiff competition from local giants like Flipkart and Reliance Retail. The online marketer has said in a release that it is committed to create a reliable logistics and delivery network to its serve customers at every serviceable pin code in India.

Abhinav Singh, Vice President of Operations for Amazon India and Australia, said the latest investment round will be used to expand processing capacity, improve fulfilment speed, and boost efficiency across Amazon’s verticals, such as sortation and delivery centres.

“These latest investments reflect our commitment to continually expand and upgrade our operations across our fulfilment, sortation, and delivery network,” Singh said. Singh added that a significant portion of the investment is reserved for programmes that support the health and financial well-being of Amazon’s employees and associates.

Amazon will roll out free health check-ups for over 80,000 delivery associates and partners by the end of 2025.

Additionally, Amazon is deploying tools to alert delivery associates to unsafe speeds, encourage rest breaks, and measure route complexity to ensure fair workload distribution. The existing Driver app is being enhanced to offer greater transparency on earnings and benefits.

In June 2023, the global e-commerce giant announced that it would invest $26 billion in India by 2030.

Amazon India’s operating revenue for FY24 was ₹25,406 crore (about $3 billion), registering 14% growth from the prior year. Net losses narrowed by 28% to ₹3,469 crore in FY24.

Amazon’s reported global revenue of $638 billion in FY20024, India’s direct revenue share, is less than 0.5% of Amazon’s global revenue. However, India is considered a high-growth and strategically important market, given its population size and e-commerce potential.