Amazon to create 5,000 new jobs in India, open 14 new fulfilment centres

Moneycontrol News

Amazon has announced that it will create 5,000 new jobs in India, by doubling its storage capacity and adding 14 new fulfilment centres by end of this year, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The move by Amazon comes at a time when local rival Flipkart last month raised USD 1.4 billion from eBay, Microsoft and Chinese player Alibaba's formal entry into the country is imminent this year.

As per the plan, the e-commerce giant will create these additional jobs in packaging, transportation, logistics, and hospitality through expansion.

Its storage capacity will be doubled to 13 million cubic feet by the additions of these new fulfilment centres (FCs).

“These 14 FCs will bring us closer to our customers and enable thousands of small & medium businesses to fulfil their orders in a cost-efficient manner,” said Amazon’s Akhil Saxena.

These new centres will act as a warehouse to store the products shipped by online sellers. These FCs are in addition to the seven specialised centres announced recently for large appliances and furniture by Amazon. These seven centres will be set up in Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh by June, this year.

Last week, Amazon reported stronger-than-expected financial results for the first quarter, as profit rose 41 percent from a year ago to Rs 4,650 crore, on revenues growing 23 percent to Rs 2,29,320 crore. Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos used the earnings report to highlight the company's efforts to expand in India.

According to a report released by Redseer Consulting, Amazon India has already caught up with the local market leader Flipkart in various crucial performance metrics. Flipkart continues to be the leader in popularity but has conceded ground to Amazon on overall brand performance during the January-March quarter.

"The US-based company is rapidly winning the race purely on their strategy of backing one-day delivery and post-sale service," Redseer said.