With two new ones, UP is now home to three Amazon Fulfilment Centres

The expansion will create thousands of work opportunities for state's locals, support 90,000 sellers in meeting growing customer demand ahead of festive season

E-commerce firm Amazon India, announced the expansion of its fulfilment network in Uttar Pradesh, with the launch of two new Fulfilment Centres (FC) in Lucknow. These newly launched facilities consist of a new FC and a specialized FC for large appliances and furniture in the State’s capital city. With this expansion, Uttar Pradesh will now be home to three Amazon Fulfilment Centres (FC) with a storage capacity of more than 3 million cubic feet, 9 times increase from the previous year. This expansion will create thousands of work opportunities for locals in the State and support over 90,000 sellers in catering to the growing customer demand, ahead of the festive season.  

“Uttar Pradesh has always been a market of great importance to us and our significant investment in the State is yet another step in the direction of providing wider market access to sellers, artisans and craftsmen,” said Akhil Saxena, VP, customer fulfilment operations, APAC, MENA & LATAM, Amazon. “Lucknow with its proximity to the rural, urban and semi-urban areas, is an ideal location for us to solidify our fulfilment network in the State.”

Amazon said the expansion will generate thousands of work opportunities for locals. It would provide a boost to ancillary businesses and their workforce including packaging, logistics, and transportation. Buildings across Amazon India’s fulfillment network are designed with efficient building systems to minimize energy usage and on-site and off-site solar panels to produce solar power. Most buildings are designed to be net water zero with multiple initiatives such as rainwater collection tanks, recharge wells to replenish water into aquifers, sewage treatment plants. As an inclusive place to work, Fulfilment Centres are also being designed to make them accessible to people with disabilities.

The expansion in Uttar Pradesh is a part of Amazon’s plans to increase its pan-India fulfilment storage capacity by close to 40 per cent to provide a total storage capacity of 43 million cubic feet, in 2021. The firm said it has created one of the most advanced fulfilment networks and sellers in India have been benefiting from Amazon’s expertise in fulfilment, reliable nationwide delivery, and customer service.

Amazon and its rivals including Walmart-owned Flipkart are rapidly expanding their operations in India to tap the upcoming festive season. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift to e-commerce, as an increasing number of consumers shop online with greater frequency, throwing huge opportunities for these players.