Amazon India to Invest Rs 2,000 Crore in Operations

New Delhi, Jun 19 (PTI) Amazon will invest over Rs 2,000 crore in 2025 to scale up its all-India operations network, the e-commerce giant said on Thursday.

Investments will support network expansion and upgrades to serve customers faster and more reliably, advance technology and innovation, and improve employee and associate well-being, Amazon said in a release.

The investment announcement comes at a time when India's e-commerce market is booming, fuelled by broadband penetration, affordable smartphones, digital payments, increasing spends from affluent and middle-class households, as well as a mobile-first, digitally-charged younger population.

Companies like Amazon and Walmart's Flipkart, as well as smaller online players have reshaped India's e-biz landscape over recent years investing billions of dollars into the booming e-commerce market in the country, which as per some estimates, is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21 per cent and reach USD 325 billion in 2030.

Announcing the Rs 2,000 crore-plus infusion, Amazon said the new investment builds on top of its investments in creating an operations network that helps the company deliver to all serviceable pin-codes across India.

Amazon plans to leverage these investments to launch new sites and upgrade existing facilities across its fulfilment (intelligent warehouses), sortation and delivery network.

According to the company, this investment will enhance processing capacity, improve fulfilment speed, and increase efficiency across the company's operations network. Doing so would help Amazon serve customers across India faster and more reliably, it explained.

Buildings in Amazon's operations network, both existing and new, are designed with technology and efficient building systems to minimise energy usage. Amazon fulfilment centres are designed to make them safe and more accessible to people with disabilities, the company said, adding it focuses on improvements in cooling solutions, safety initiatives, and resting areas to ensure well-being and safety and provide an inclusive work environment.

These strategic investments underscore Amazon's focus on strengthening its operational footprint in India, sellers, and enhancing customer convenience while driving growth for local economies, it said.

Amazon further said it continues to enhance on-road safety by using the latest technologies to alert delivery associates and partners about unsafe speeds and encourage rest breaks.

That includes investing in tools that measure route complexity and ensure equitable distribution of delivery routes, while allowing adequate time for each delivery.

Amazon is streamlining driver onboarding processes and enhancing the driver app for better earnings transparency and other information. It is also simplifying delivery workflows by making the app more self-guided, improving navigation for unstructured addresses, and reducing cognitive load with photo and video-based item verification.

The company said it continues to invest and expand initiatives aimed at improving the health and financial well-being of employees and associates across the operations network.

This includes expanding programs like 'Ashray', which provides dedicated rest points for delivery associates, even to those outside its own delivery network, offering seating, water, charging stations, and washroom facilities; as well as 'Samridhi', which a financial well-being program focused on financial education and personal finance support for associates and drivers.

Recently, Amazon launched a nationwide initiative to offer free health check-ups to over 80,000 delivery associates and partners through medical camps by the end of 2025.

"These latest investments reflect our commitment to continually expand and upgrade our operations across our fulfilment, sortation and delivery network," said Abhinav Singh, VP - Operations, Amazon India and Australia.

By strengthening infrastructure capabilities, enhancing processing capacity, and implementing advanced technology, Amazon is positioning itself to better serve customers throughout India while supporting employees, associates and partners who are the heart of it all, Singh added.