Amazon to create 2 million jobs, $20-billion exports from India by 2025

Amazon India will create 2 million jobs in the country, enable $20 billion in exports (the double of its earlier target) and digitise 10 million MSMEs by 2025, the company said on Sunday. In the last one year, Amazon helped create over 135,000 jobs across industries such as information technology, e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing, content creation and skill development, among others, it said.

Amazon India has created more than 1.16 million jobs, enabled nearly $5 billion in exports and digitised over 4 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), since it started operations in 2013.

“As we continue to work with MSMEs across the country, we remain committed to bringing new tools, technology and innovation that will unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of Indian businesses, boost exports from the country and help create jobs at scale. We strongly believe that technology and mobile internet will continue to positively impact India’s economic growth, and we see Amazon playing a larger role in the country’s digital transformation and a modern, thriving digital economy,” Manish Tiwary, country manager, India consumer business at Amazon India, said.

Amazon’s ‘GlobalSelling’ programme has more than 100,000 exporters who are on track to cross $5 billion in cumulative exports. The programme — launched to help Indian businesses tap customers in more than 200 countries — took three years to enable the first 1 billion dollars in exports and only 17 months to enable the last 2 billion dollars, it said.

Amazon has digitised over 4 million MSMEs including sellers, artisans and weavers, delivery and logistics service partners, etc. The company’s digitisation efforts are empowering small businesses including local retail stores, artisans and grassroot entrepreneurs to reach their customers and broaden their reach even further.

In July 2021, Amazon opened its first ‘Digital Kendra’ in Surat to help digitisation of small businesses, and has already served over 4,000 businesses from Surat and nearby areas. In 2021, the firm announced a $250-million Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund to invest in start-ups and entrepreneurs focused on technology innovations.

As part of the fund, Amazon has already invested in ‘MyGlamm’, ‘M1xchange’ and ‘Small Case’. Amazon would continue to invest in the fund, including multiple new and emerging areas that are seeing a high degree of innovation and entrepreneurial energy, it added.