New Delhi: Amazon on Tuesday announced that it is planning to launch its first manufacturing line in India later this year. Giving further details, it said that the unit will be based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and will start producing hundreds of thousands of Amazon Fire TV Stick devices each year. Moreover, the company said it will invest USD 1 billion to digitize 10 million small and medium-sized businesses, help businesses in India sell worldwide, enabling USD 10 billion in cumulative exports, and create 1 million jobs by 2025.
Issuing a statement, the Amazon said the establishment of manufacturing unit in India reiterates its commitment to the government’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives.
Posting details on a blog post, Amazon said it will begin manufacturing operations in Chennai later this year which will be done in partnership with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn. Moreover, it will also continuously assess the ability to scale the manufacturing line to other markets and more cities based on domestic demand.
The Amazon made the announcement following a meeting between Amit Agarwal, Senior Vice President of Amazon India and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Information and Technology.
“India is an attractive investment destination and is poised to become a major player in the global supply chain in the electronics and computer products industry. Our government’s decision to launch a production-linked incentive program (PLI) has received huge success around the world,” Prasad said in a statement.
He also added that the Centre welcomes Amazon’s decision to set up a manufacturing line in Chennai as this will improve domestic production capabilities and also create jobs. He said this will strengthen the Centre’s mission to create an Atmanirbhar Bharat with digital capabilities.
On the other hand, Agarwal said Amazon is committed to partnering with the government to advance the vision of an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat”. “This reiterates our commitment to the Indian government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative,” Agarwal added.
Amazon in a tweet said that Tamil Nadu is a critical partner for the business and its first India manufacturing line in Chennai will directly contribute to the local economy and showcase India’s ability to produce world-class products.