Bengaluru: Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) said on Friday it planned to create 1 million jobs in India by 2025, a day after the country’s trade minister said the e-commerce giant’s recently unveiled $1 billion investment in the country was no big favour.
Amazon and Walmart’s (WMT.N) Flipkart are facing mounting criticism from India’s brick-and-mortar retailers, which accuse the U.S. giants of violating Indian law by racking up billions of dollars in losses to fund deep discounts and discriminating against small sellers. The companies deny the allegations.
Amazon said it would create new jobs in India through investments in infrastructure, technology and logistics.
“We are investing to create a million new jobs here in India over the next five years,” Amazon Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos said in a statement.
Bezos, who is currently visiting India, said on Wednesday the company would invest $1 billion to bring small businesses online in the country, adding to the $5.5 billion the company had committed since 2014.
“They may have put in a billion dollars but then if they make a loss of a billion dollars every year then they jolly well have to finance that billion dollars,” Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal told a security conference in New Delhi on Thursday.
“So it’s not as if they are doing a great favor to India when they invest a billion dollars,” Goyal had said.
Meanwhile, Piyush Goyal on Friday said his statement regarding Amazon was misconstrued and asserted that the government welcomes all investments but it should adhere to rules and regulations.
Goyal said that these investments should not create unfair competition for small traders.
“We welcome all types of investments. But if the foundation of any investment violates law then there will be a legal process. Some people think I said something negative against Amazon. If you look at the context of my statement, I said investment should come within the law and regulations. This process is followed across the world,” the minister told reporters here when asked to comment on his statement.
“There are some laws regarding eCommerce in India. We welcome investments that come under those laws. But this investment should not create unfair competition to small traders and retail businessmen in India,” he said.
Bezos’ visit to India also comes just days after the Competition Commission of India launched an anti-trust probe to look into the allegations by the brick-and-mortar retailers.
