Amazon CEO meets PM Modi; co adds USD 13 bn to 5-yr mega investment plan for AI, cloud infra

New Delhi (PTI): Amazon will invest an additional USD 13 billion in India, taking its planned capital commitment in the country to USD 48 billion between 2026 and 2030, Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy said on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The fresh investment underscores Amazon's long-term commitment to India, which Jassy described as one of the company's most important growth markets globally.

He said Amazon's India business is seeing strong momentum, driven by robust customer demand across e-commerce and Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud-computing division.

The announcement comes as global technology firms step up investments in India, attracted by the country's expanding digital economy, growing consumer base and rising demand for cloud and AI services.

Amazon has invested heavily in India over the past decade, building out logistics networks, technology infrastructure and digital services as it seeks to deepen its presence in one of the world's fastest-growing major economies.

Jassy affirmed Amazon's long-term commitment to the country, and said the company's India business is on a strong growth trajectory with robust customer demand, especially in e-commerce and Amazon Web Services, its cloud computing unit.

He also highlighted the growing importance of India, a market where Amazon operates several businesses, including e-commerce, AI, cloud, and entertainment.

"A great meeting with Mr. Andy Jassy. I welcome Amazon's record USD 48 billion investment in India. This will create new opportunities for our youth," Prime Minister Modi said in a post on X.

This also reflects the growing interest across the world to invest in India, he said.

Sharing a photo from his meeting with the Prime Minister, Jassy, in a post on X, said he really enjoyed the discussion about what’s ahead for Amazon in India.

"We’ve been serving customers, sellers, developers, startups, and enterprises in India for more than a decade and just getting started...Excited about what's ahead. Still early days for what we can build," Jassy said.

The Amazon top boss discussed the company's plans to invest USD 48 billion over the coming five years, including more than USD 21 billion in AI and cloud infrastructure.

By 2030, Amazon plans to support 3.8 million jobs, enable USD 80 billion in e-commerce exports, and bring the benefits of AI to 15 million small businesses and four million government school students, Amazon's top executive said.

The company, in a statement, said that during his meeting with the PM, Jassy reiterated Amazon's long-term commitment to India and announced plans to invest an additional USD 13 billion to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in the country by 2030.

The latest investment pledge positions Amazon as one of the largest global AI and cloud infrastructure investors in India, the US-headquartered e-commerce giant added.

"The investment will expand AWS data centre capacity in Mumbai and Hyderabad, giving startups, enterprises and government organisations access to custom AI chips, managed AI services, secure and reliable cloud technologies and developer tools to innovate faster, scale rapidly, and serve customers globally," according to Amazon.

With this, Amazon's cumulative investments in India exceed USD 88 billion between 2010 and 2030. Just six months back, Amazon had announced USD 35 billion in new India investments.

"The latest investment makes Amazon one of the largest global AI and cloud infrastructure investors in India, in addition to being the largest foreign investor in India, the largest enabler of ecommerce exports and one of the biggest job creators in the country," Amazon said.

The company plans to launch more than 20 new fulfilment centres and over 100 new last-mile delivery stations this year, bringing faster and reliable deliveries to customers nationwide, especially in tier 3 and 4 cities, the statement said.

Amazon has also announced 'Sammaan', a programme focused on the welfare of tens of thousands of delivery associates powering its e-commerce and quick commerce network.

Since its launch in India, Amazon has digitised 12 million small businesses, enabled over USD 20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports, and supported 2.8 million jobs. Amazon has also trained over 10 million Indians on cloud skills.

"Through 2030, the company plans to invest a total of USD 48 billion to expand and support its businesses in India. In line with the government priorities, Amazon will continue its strong focus on AI-led digitisation, export growth, and job creation," according to the statement.

The Amazon top honcho said the company has seen strong growth in India, especially across e-commerce, AI, and cloud businesses.

"As we grow Amazon in India, our business priorities continue to align with India’s priorities of democratising access to AI, digitising small businesses, creating jobs, and enabling exports. We are investing over USD 48 billion in the coming five years to meet the strong demand across our business in India and to help the country achieve these priorities," Jassy said.

"We are inspired by Prime Minister Modi’s vision of a Viksit and Atmanirbhar Bharat, and we are committed to being a long-term partner in India’s growth story."

On the expanded investment pool, the company said the fresh investment commitment will help expand and support AI and cloud infrastructure across the two regions in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

"Both AWS regions enable customers to securely store their data within India and give them access to the world’s most advanced AI and cloud technology, including high-performance Trainium chips and AWS's leading inference engine Amazon Bedrock," Amazon said.

The e-commerce giant underlined that hundreds of thousands of Indian enterprises, startups, and government agencies are already using AWS to build, train, and deploy AI workloads at production scale, including National Health Authority, Government e-Marketplace, Apollo Tyres, Delhivery, Physics Wallah, Axis Bank, and HDFC Bank.

"From day one, AWS has built its infrastructure so customers have full control over where their data resides, who can access it, and how it's secured," the company pointed out.

Amazon.in has over 100 million customers and more than 1.7 million sellers, it said, adding that the company is seeing 85 per cent of new customers and over 65 per cent of orders from tier 2 and 3 cities.

In Bengaluru on Wednesday, Jassy had announced the company's plans to expand its ultra-fast delivery service, Amazon Now, to more than 300 Indian cities and to build what Amazon describes as the country's largest "delivery in minutes" network.

Amazon Now's aggressive expansion comes at a time when India's quick commerce market has emerged as one of the fastest-growing segments of the country's digital economy, driven by rising demand for ultra-fast deliveries and changing consumer preferences.