Amazon to increase investments in India to $5 billion

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By Larry Banks

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said this week the e-commerce giant will invest a further $3 billion in India, boosting its overall investment in the country to more than $5 billion.

Bezos spoke at a Washington event attended by Indian PM Narendra Modi, who also met President Barack Obama earlier, and stated that India was the fastest growing region for the firm.

“I can assure you it’s only the beginning and as we say in Amazon, it’s only day one”, said Bezos, adding the investments would help start-ups in India and accelerate the country’s role as a hub for innovation and digital entrepreneurship.

Bezos said Amazon will open a Web Services Cloud Region in the country this year, and it would also soon host the firm’s largest software development centre outside the US, located in Hyderabad.

Bezos said Amazon has built 21 fulfilment centres of over 5 million cubic feet of storage space. The company’s links with India Post means it can now reach all postal codes in the country.

The Hyderabad centre will apparently create jobs for thousands of people, mainly due to the deployment of Amazon Cloud Services.

Bezos is the fourth richest man in the world, and made his comments the same day that Warren Buffet, the world’s third richest, praised him for embodying small business owners who build their companies.

SOURCE: Reuters.

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