Latest News

  • Home
  • National
  • Inside Amazon's New India Headquarters, Its Biggest Building Globally
Inside Amazon's New India Headquarters, Its Biggest Building Globally
Wednesday, September 11, 2019 IST
Inside Amazon

While the prospects of success in the vast nation are tantalising, the risks are also high, with Amazon and Flipkart incurring big losses

 
 

HYDERABAD: With 49 elevators moving a floor per second and zumba classes for its more than 15,000 employees, Amazon's new Indian headquarters, its biggest building globally, matches its ambitions in a vast but challenging market.
 
The US retail giant launched its first site in India in 2013 and is locked in a fierce battle with Walmart, which bought a 77-per cent share in local e-commerce behemoth Flipkart for $16 billion last year.
 
"For Amazon, India is a very important geography," the firm's human resources director for India and the Middle East, Deepti Varma, told AFP at the gleaming new 86-metre (282-feet) tall office building in the southern tech hub of Hyderabad.
 
While the prospects of success in the vast nation are tantalising, the risks are also high, with Amazon and Flipkart incurring big losses as they expand and attempt to tap into new markets in Asia's third-largest economy.
 
Both firms will also face fierce competition from Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries - helmed by Asia's richest man, Mukesh Ambani - which is preparing to go up against the two US companies with its own e-commerce platform.
 
Bureaucratic hurdles present further challenges.
 
 
New e-commerce rules that came into force in February banned companies like Amazon from selling products from firms in which they have a stake. They are also forbidden from entering into exclusive deals with sellers.
 
The regulations were brought in after brick-and-mortar retailers complained the e-tailers were unfairly selling products at discount prices.
 
"Going forward, the challenges are more around regulation and how to navigate the policy and regulatory environment," Ankur Bisen of Delhi-based consulting firm Technopak told AFP.
 
 

 
 

"We have seen how some of the policy announcements have got them off-guard."
 
Amazon has already earmarked $5 billion in investment funds for India, where one in three people use the internet - a figure forecast to swell by 300 million by 2020 mainly due to growing smartphone use.
 
India's e-commerce sales are expected to triple between now and 2022, when they are likely to pass the $100 billion mark, according to recent research by industry body NASSCOM and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
 
Walmart, the world's biggest retailer, said in May after reporting its first-quarter earnings that despite losses at Flipkart, "we continue to believe is a very sound long-term investment in a compelling market".
 
India is also a major source of employment for Amazon's global operations with some 62,000 full-time staff and 155,000 contract employees.
 
Bisen said the Hyderabad campus "is a signal to the government that 'we are increasing our base in India and we are making sure there is a lot of India that is built into Amazon's global story'".

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
Here is the full list of 827 porn websites banned by the DoT

While the Uttarakhand High Court has asked to block 857 websites, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) found 30 portals without any pornographic content. ...

Recently posted . 61K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Class XII Boys Raped 16-Year-old in Dehradun School After Watching Porn on Phone: Police

The four boys as well as five school officials, including the director and principal, were arrested after the incident. The minors were presented before the Juvenil...

Recently posted . 8K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Sept 27,2001 Rahul Gandhi and his girl friend Veronique,was arrested in Logan airport in Boston

Rahul was having an Italian passport and was carrying suitcase full of dollars. Some say it was about was it $2 million. Rahul and his girl friend was th...

Recently posted . 7K views . 7 min read
 

 Article
TOP 10 GYM EQUIPMENT BRANDS IN INDIA 2017

True – Tr...

Recently posted . 6K views . 83 min read
 

 
 

More in National

 Article
Inside India's 'Fastest' Train - 360-Degree Rotating Seats, Sliding Steps

Train 18 can travel at a speed of 160 kmph as against 130 kmph of Shatabdi and would cut travel time by around 15 per cent.

Recently posted. 780 views . 0 min read
 

 Article
Won't touch Adultery Law to make it an offence for women too, observes Supreme Court

The top court added that adultery will not be gender-neutral law and that it will examine if the law should remain a criminal offence at all.

Recently posted. 545 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
Nobody has right to dilute RERA passed by Parliament: Naidu

In the midst of reports of weakening of key arrangements of new realty law by a few states, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today said it ought to be actualized in ...

Recently posted. 859 views . 13 min read
 

 Video
15 Things You Didn't Know About India



Recently posted . 682 views
 

 Reviews
Top CBSE schools in Noida



Recently posted . 1K views . 88 min read
 

 Article
With IRCTC’s Food on Track app, get food delivered to your seat; Here are 5 things to know

The Food on Track app also has the facility of auto cancellation of meal in case of PNR cancelled/fully waitlisted. The app is available for both Android as well ...

Recently posted. 874 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
AIIMS completes trials for low-cost, painless cervical cancer screening device

The inventor is in talks with the Tamil Nadu government for introduction of the FDA-approved device in a primary care setting.  

Recently posted. 596 views . 1 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

“Your life is a reflection of your thoughts.”
Anonymous

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top