Amazon to add 10 fulfilment centres to India network before festive season

Also plans to expand seven existing buildings, says move likely to create thousands of jobs with competitive pay

As it gears up for the online sale season amid the pandemic, Amazon India has announced the addition of 10 new fulfilment centres (FC) and expansion of seven existing buildings to beef up its fulfilment network in India.

To be set up in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Patna, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ludhiana and Ahmedabad, the new fulfillment centres will be operational before the festive season. With this, the company will have over 60 fulfilment centres in 15 states. 

“The increase in storage capacity is in line with our long-term commitment to invest in India,” said Akhil Saxena, VP, Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA & LatAm, Amazon India. “With the expanded network of more than 60 fulfilment centres, we look forward to creating thousands of job opportunities with competitive pay,” he added.

These new centres include the specialised network of warehouses for large appliances and furniture category and receive centres. 

“In these challenging times and in the post Covid-19 era, e-commerce will be a key driver of India’s growth and job creation. As this segment grows and expands Amazon should provide safe access to products for the people of India, work closely with our kirana stores so that they also benefit from the expansion of market and support industries such as packaging, trucking and construction,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog.

Amazon had earlier said that it has opened close to 50,000 seasonal roles to meet the surge in demand from people relying on the e-commerce firm’s service, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public. 

Walmart-owned Flipkart has 12 warehouses in Haryana, including supply-chain infrastructure for large appliances, non-large ones including mobiles, apparel, grocery and furniture, taking the total asset capacity in the state to over two million square feet.

While the transaction volumes on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal have returned pre-Covid levels, analysts have said that big-ticket transactions will begin by next year with people continuing to buy small valued items this year.