Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad announced on Twitter that Amazon will commence manufacturing television streaming devices in India from this year onward, Mint reports.
The products will be created by a subsidiary of the e-commerce giants’ manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology in its facilities outside Chennai.
Amit Agarwal, SVP and Country Head of Amazon India said, “This further reiterates our commitment to ‘Make in India’, contributing directly to the local economy, creating jobs & boosting Indian innovation.” Agarwal had briefed Prasad regarding the fine details of the company’s manufacturing vision on Tuesday.
The company is looking to produce scores of Fire TV Stick devices annually that will cater to the consumer demand in India. Union Minister Prasad warmly welcomed Amazon’s establishment of a production line in Tamil Nadu. He mentioned that this project further enhances the current government’s mission of an ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, which is digitally empowered.
Amazon has also assured to invest $1 billion for the digitization of around 10 million small and medium businesses. This will in turn allow domestic businesses to sell worldwide and attract $10 billion through cumulative exports. Moreover, it will also ensure the creation of around 1 million jobs by 2025.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad additionally said, “India is an attractive investment destination and is poised to become a major player in the global supply chain in the electronics and IT products industry. Our Government’s decision to launch a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme has received tremendous response globally.”
Amazon had rolled out the ‘Local Shops For Amazon’ program in 2020 that empowered retail and local shop owners to gain an advantage by selling their products online.
The company’s blog post mentioned that over 22,000 neighbourhood stores across the country registered in this initiative. Digital and online presence has expanded their footfall and increased their potential to earn by transforming themselves into different roles such as pickup points, logistic partners and experience centres for e-commerce.