Amazon on Tuesday announced its plans to begin manufacturing Amazon Devices in India. It will commence its manufacturing efforts with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn in Chennai and start production later this year, the company announced in its blog.
The announcement came on a day when the Tamil Nadu government today signed 28 MoUs worth ₹28,053 crore for various projects that will create employment for 68,775 persons.
Amazon’s device manufacturing programme will be able to produce hundreds of thousands of Fire TV Stick devices every year, catering to the demands of customers in India. It will continuously evaluate scaling capacity to additional marketplaces/cities depending on the domestic demand.
Amit Agarwal, SVP and Country Head, Amazon India, briefed Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology and Law & Justice, on the details of the initiative.
“This is the first Amazon manufacturing line in India, reiterating our commitment to the Government’s ‘Make in India’ for an Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the company said.
“We welcome Amazon’s decision to set up a manufacturing line in Chennai, as it will enhance domestic production capacities, and create jobs as well. This will further our mission of creating an Atmanirbhar Bharat, which is digitally empowered,” the minister said.
“India is an attractive investment destination and is poised to become a major player in the global supply chain in the electronics and IT products industry. Our government’s decision to launch a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has received tremendous response globally,” he said.
Digital drive
According to Agarwal, “Amazon is committed to partner with the Indian government to advance the vision of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. We have pledged to invest $1 billion to digitise 10 million small and medium businesses, help Indian businesses sell worldwide thereby enabling $10B in cumulative exports, and create an additional 1 million jobs by 2025.
In 2020, Amazon announced the ‘Local Shops on Amazon’, a programme that retailers and local shops be Atmanirbhar, and benefit from selling online. We have over 22,000 neighbourhood stores registered across the country gathering additional footfalls through their online presence and furthering their earning potential by acting as pick-up points, logistics partners, and experience centres for e-commerce, the company said.
“Tamil Nadu has been an essential partner for Amazon India & we are excited to launch our first manufacturing line in Chennai. This contributes directly to the local economy & showcases India’s ability to produce world-class products,” says a tweet by Amazon.
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