E-commerce giant Amazon has announced its plans to begin manufacturing Amazon Devices in India. This is the first Amazon manufacturing line in India and reiterates the firm’s commitment to the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ for an Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The company did not disclose the amount it proposes to invest.
Amazon will commence its manufacturing efforts with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn in Chennai and start production later this year. The device manufacturing programme will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Stick devices every year, catering to the demands of customers in India. Amazon will continuously evaluate scaling capacity to additional marketplaces and cities depending on the domestic demand.
“Amazon is committed to partner with the Indian government to advance the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” said Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country leader for Amazon India. “We have pledged to invest $1 billion to digitise 10 million small and medium businesses, help Indian businesses sell worldwide thereby enabling $10 billion in cumulative exports, and create an additional 1 million jobs by 2025.
Agarwal on Tuesday briefed Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, Government of India on the details of the initiative.
Prasad said in a series of tweets that India is an attractive investment destination and is poised to become a major player in the global supply chain in the electronics and IT products industry. He said the Government’s decision to launch a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme has received a tremendous response globally.
“We welcome Amazon’s decision to set up a manufacturing line in Chennai, as it will enhance domestic production capacities, and create jobs as well,” said Prasad. “This will further our mission of creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat which is digitally empowered.”
Prasad said he asked Amazon to help in taking products made by India’s artisans and Ayurvedic products to global markets through eCommerce Platform. In addition, he suggested the ecommerce giant develop a few villages in India and develop them as fully digital villages as part of the IT ministry's digital village programme. "Amazon should also work with small local shops and make them a stakeholder in the larger efforts of Amazon to grow its business," he added.
In 2020 Amazon announced the ‘Local Shops on Amazon’, a programme that retailers and local shops be Atmanirbhar, and benefit from selling online. It now has over 22,000 neighbourhood stores registered across the country gathering additional footfalls through their online presence and furthering their earning potential by acting as pickup points, logistics partners, and experience centres for e-commerce.
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