New Delhi

Amazon has announced plans to invest USD 35 billion in India over the next five years, strengthening its presence across quick commerce, cloud computing and artificial intelligence in one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.

The announcement comes a day after Microsoft pledged USD 17.5 billion for data centres and AI infrastructure by 2030, while Google has earlier committed USD 15 billion for building AI data centres in the country.

Amazon said its India investments spanning AI, logistics, and small-business support are expected to create one million additional jobs by 2030. The company also aims to boost exports enabled through its marketplace to USD 80 billion, up from about USD 20 billion currently.

The new funding push underscores the fierce competition with Walmart-owned Flipkart, Reliance Industries’ retail ventures backed by Mukesh Ambani, and ultra-fast delivery platforms such as Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto.

Amazon has already invested USD 40 billion in India since 2010. In 2023, the company announced a USD 26 billion investment plan, and it has been steadily expanding its network of fulfilment centres, logistics capabilities, data centres, digital payments infrastructure and technology development hubs.

“We’re excited to continue being a catalyst for India’s growth, as we democratize access to AI for millions of Indians,” said Amit Agarwal, Amazon’s head of emerging markets, at the Amazon Smbhav Summit. He added that Amazon’s total commitment will rise by USD 35 billion by 2030, reinforcing its position as the country’s largest foreign investor according to a Keystone report.

In 2023, Amazon pledged USD 12.7 billion toward cloud and AI infrastructure across Telangana and Maharashtra by 2030 and has already invested USD 3.7 billion in the country between 2016 and 2022.

The Keystone report highlights that Amazon has digitized over 12 million small businesses, supported 2.8 million jobs across sectors, and facilitated USD 20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports as of 2024.

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To accelerate export growth, Amazon has launched “Accelerate Exports”, a manufacturing-focused initiative connecting global buyers with India’s manufacturing ecosystem. The program will conduct onboarding drives across major manufacturing hubs such as Tirupur, Kanpur and Surat.

At the summit, Amazon also announced a partnership with the Apparel Export Promotion Council of India (AEPC) to scale the initiative nationwide.