Amazon pumps £493m into India subsidiaries

E-COMMERCE giant Amazon has pumped around Rs 45 billion (£493 million) into its verticals in India.

The American company is investing in its Indian subsidiaries to boost its operation in one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Documents filed with the country’s Registrar of Companies showed that the Seattle-based company had invested the huge sum in its retail, food, and payments subsidiaries, Reuters reported on Wednesday (30).

The Jeff Bezos-founded company did not immediately comment where or how the cash would be used.

The company has committed to spending over $5bn for the Indian market.

Amazon is locked in a war with Walmart Inc-owned Indian firm Flipkart for its market expansion.

Earlier, the company said that it would acquire a minority stake in India’s Future Retail Ltd, which owns a list of supermarket brands, including department and grocery store chain Big Bazaar.

It opened its largest campus building in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad in August.

The new campus, which is the online business giant’s first owned building outside of the US, is spread over 1.8 million square feet.

The campus accommodates 15,000 workers while the larger buildings in Seattle house about 5,000 staff members.

Amazon has more than 60,000 employees in India. The workforce serves the company’s global market places.

A third of the workers of the company are based in Hyderabad, and it is the largest employee base outside Seattle.

The company’s net sales in the September quarter increased 24 per cent to $70bn, higher when compared to the $56.6bn in the third quarter of 2018.

Excluding the $500 million unfavourable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales increased 25 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2018.