Amazon chief Jeff Bezos is in India. A conference was held in New Delhi on Wednesday, where he made a big announcement saying Amazon will invest $1 billion into India operations to help small and medium-sized businesses in the country.
CEO Jeff Bezos further said we will also export goods from India produced under the “Make in India” program that will further encourage the manufacturing sector to produce more goods to be of $10 billion in size on the Amazon platform by 2025.
“Over the next five years, Amazon will invest an incremental $1 billion to digitize micro and small businesses in cities, towns, and villages across India, helping them reach more customers than ever before,” said Bezos in a statement.
“This initiative will use Amazon’s global footprint to create $10 billion in India exports by 2025. Our hope is that this investment will bring millions more people into the future prosperity of India and at the same time expose the world to the ‘Make in India’ products that represent India’s rich, diverse culture,” he added.
However, his decision to invest $1 billion has not been welcomed by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. He said Amazon has not done any favor to India by announcing a new $1 billion investment. Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart are facing criticism in India just after Bezos made a big announcement. Dozens of Indian merchants have come on Delhi’s street to protest against Amazon carrying posters with “Jeff Bezos Go Back”.
“They may have put in a billion dollars, but if they make a loss of a billion dollars every year, then jolly well they have to finance that billion dollars. So, it’s not as if they are doing a great favour to India when they invest a billion dollars,” Goyal said. The minister said the government has no issue with investments within the current rules and regulations for the sector.
