Amazon to make in India, to start production in Chennai by 2021-end

Amazon said it would be able to make hundreds of thousands of Amazon Fire TV Stick devices from Chennai.

Amazon India is planning to make its devices in India- a key step at a time when the government has been stressing on the importance of local manufacturing and making India ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-reliant), the e-commerce giant said on February 16.

Amazon will work with contract manufacturer Cloud Network Technology, a subsidiary of Foxconn in Chennai and start production later this year. Taiwan-based Foxconn is one of the world’s largest makers of iPads, iPhones and Xiaomi devices.

“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 $10 billion in cumulative exports, and create an additional 1 million jobs by 2025,” said Amit Agarwal, Global Senior Vice President and Country Leader for Amazon India.

Amazon said it would be able to make hundreds of thousands of Amazon Fire TV Stick devices from Chennai, and would consider scaling manufacturing to other cities depending on demand.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology and Law and Justice, 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. 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,” he added.