Flipkart adds new facilities in Maharashtra, to create 4,000 jobs

Spread across nearly 7 lakh square feet, new facilities will create over 4,000 direct and indirect job opportunities and also support pan-India market access for thousands of local sellers and MSMEs

E-commerce giant Flipkart announced the strengthening of its tech-enabled supply chain network in Maharashtra with the addition of four new fulfilment and sortation centres to support local sellers from the state and cater to the growing demand for e-commerce. The addition of the new facilities is a testament to Walmart-owned Flipkart’s commitment to serving customers and sellers from the state in a fast and seamless manner and contributing to their prosperity while boosting economic growth in the State.

The new facilities located in Bhiwandi and Nagpur are collectively spread across an area of nearly 7 lakh square feet, helping create over 4,000 direct and indirect jobs. Apart from growing customer demand, this expansion comes on the back of a growing seller count from the state which rose by 30 per cent in the last year. Flipkart has a very large and rapidly growing seller base in the state selling everything from home decor to mobiles to luggage and travel accessories to customers across the country.

“As a homegrown e-commerce company, we are continuously making deep investment in infrastructure and supply-chain in Maharashtra to support a robust ecosystem for local MSMEs, artisans, weavers and other under-served communities,” said Rajneesh Kumar, chief corporate affairs officer at Flipkart. He said Flipkart will continue to provide superior experience to our customers, keeping in mind their dynamic needs. The firm would also be creating opportunities for local sellers and generating thousands of diverse direct and indirect job opportunities in the State. “We have a long-standing relationship with the state of Maharashtra and are looking forward to extending this partnership as we continue democratizing commerce backed by technology and innovation,” said Kumar.

A fulfilment center is a logistics warehouse where incoming orders are received, processed and filled. Sortation centre is a facility where shipments are picked according to pin codes. 

Flipkart has over 70 fulfilment and sortation centres across the country. The total area is equal to over 10  million sq ft and it is expanding rapidly.

The expansion would help Flipkart compete with Amazon, Reliance’s JioMart, and Tata-owned BigBasket. Rival company Amazon India recently announced its plans to expand its fulfillment network in India, with a nearly 40 per cent increase in its storage capacity over the last year. With this expansion, Amazon.in will have more than 43 million cubic feet of storage capacity, across 15 States, supporting around 850,000 sellers across India.

Amazon India’s overall fulfillment network will be spread across a floor area of more than 10 million square feet. This is more than the land size of 125 football fields, housing millions of products from notebooks to dishwashers.

Maharashtra is among the key centres for Flipkart from a supply chain standpoint to ensure seamless movement of goods across the country. With the recent additions and expansion of existing facilities, Flipkart has a total of 12 supply chain facilities in Maharashtra spread across over 23 lakh square feet area, creating more than 20,000 direct and indirect job opportunities.

Subhash Desai, Minister of Industries, Government of Maharashtra said Maharashtra is one of the most attractive investment destinations in the country and Flipkart’s recent investments are a welcome move for the state.

“Flipkart has played a pivotal role in keeping people indoors in the fight against calamities while meeting their essential requirements,” said Desai. “I am happy to see continued investment from Flipkart, helping bring increased job opportunities and support for the sellers, MSMEs and artisan ecosystem.”

As the country’s financial capital, Maharashtra has been at the forefront of driving the growth of e-commerce. Millions of new customers, sellers and kirana partners are taking to e-commerce to meet their requirements while making use of the entrepreneurship opportunities it offers. Earlier in February, Flipkart signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Maharashtra Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (MSSIDC) and Maharashtra State Khadi & Village Industries Board (MSKVIB), to bring local artisans, weavers, craftsmen and SMBs of the state into the e-commerce fold.

Flipkart said it is also making e-commerce more inclusive for customers from the West, as the ‘Flipkart app’ has language interfaces in 11 Indian languages. This includes Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati amongst other key Indian languages.