Amazon Makes $3 Billion Bet On India As It Faces Tough Competition

“The added investment reflects the success to-date of Amazon in India, as well as a bright outlook for the e-commerce market in the region”, said Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W Baird & Co. It’s day one, like we say it at Amazon, ” Bezos said. According to a tweet by Vikas Swarup, the official spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs, Jeff Bezos said to the Prime Minister that he believes India is a country of entrepreneurs.

This investment from Bezos doubles the pledged amount that Amazon had made a decision to pump into the Indian market. While Amazon is making high investments, its rivals are actually facing difficulty to raise cash. Revenue from a group of other worldwide markets, including India, reached Dollars 7.4 billion in 2015, or 6.9 percent of total sales.

Amazon said last summer it planned to open a data center in India to serve what it said were tens of thousands of customers in the world’s second-most populous country.

Modi addressed the USIBC’s 41st annual leadership summit, where he interacted with 20-odd CEOs including Cisco’s John Chambers, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Abbott’s Robert Ford, American Tower Corp’s James Taiclet, Boeing’s Marc Allen, Cigna’s David Cordani, Lockheed Martin’s Marillyn Hewson, Mastercard’s Ajay Banga and Pepsico’s Indra Nooyi among others. With that the company will have its largest centre for software engineering and development outside the US.

The Amazon India system works differently from their version in the United States where they rely primarily on local logistics companies to deliver their goods.

Highlighting the need for a strong banking system for India’s economy to succeed, the Prime Minister said, “The Jan Dhan Yojana has also transformed the ability of the poor to make and to receive electronic payments”. The Indian-born CEO also shared plans to expand free WiFi in 100 railway stations and a rural internet program for women from pilot to full-scale program to cover three lakh villages in three years, The Hindu Times reported.

Both also have a shared interest in newspapers, with Berkshire owning dozens of newspapers including its hometown Omaha World-Herald and Bezos owning the Washington Post. Recently, a report from India showed that Amazon had shoved aside local startup Snapdeal to become India’s number two online retailer.

It seems that Mr. Modi rightly believes in the power of technology to facilitate his country’s economic development.