Amazon has unveiled plans to pour more than $35 billion into its India operations by 2030, doubling down on artificial intelligence innovation, job creation, and export growth in a move that cements the e-commerce giant’s role as India’s top foreign investor.
The announcement, made at the sixth Amazon Smbhav Summit here, builds on nearly $40 billion already invested since 2010 in infrastructure, employee pay, and tech development. Senior Vice President for Emerging Markets Amit Agarwal highlighted three focus areas: AI-driven digitization to empower small businesses, quadrupling e-commerce exports to $80 billion, and generating an additional 1 million direct, indirect, induced, and seasonal jobs by decade’s end.
By 2030, Amazon aims to bring AI tools to 15 million small businesses, enhancing everything from seller tools to customer shopping with features like visual discovery and multilingual chat. It also plans AI education for 4 million government school students, including hands-on learning and teacher training, to build a skilled workforce.
This pledge comes hot on the heels of Microsoft’s $17.5 billion AI infrastructure commitment and Google’s $15 billion data center push, underscoring a tech arms race in India amid its booming digital economy. Agarwal tied the investment to India’s “Atmanirbhar and Viksit Bharat” vision, noting Amazon’s track record of digitizing 12 million small sellers and enabling $20 billion in exports so far.
As global hyperscalers vie for India’s 1.4 billion consumers and AI talent pool, Amazon’s bet signals confidence in the country’s potential to lead Asia’s tech wave, promising a ripple effect from startups to rural entrepreneurs.
