'India not tougher than other mkts'
Business Standard|December 11, 2024
Online retail major Amazon is navigating a challenging regulatory environment in India at a time when e-commerce is witnessing rapid growth and quick commerce has emerged as a new reality. SAMIR KUMAR, in his first interview since taking charge as Amazon India head in September, tells Aryaman Gupta & Nivedita Mookerji in New Delhi that regulatory challenges exist in every market and that India is not more difficult than others. On quick commerce, he says a pilot for 15-minute delivery is starting in Bengaluru this month. Edited excerpts:
SAMIR KUMAR, AMAZON INDIA HEAD
'India not tougher than other mkts'

You have been in Amazon for 25 years and now heading the India business for a little over two months now. How have things changed for you?

It's not a whole lot different from what I was doing earlier, just that the travel has increased quite a bit. The way our team operates is the same. So, when I moved back from Seattle to Bengaluru, it was very easy to settle down.

Is the regulatory environment in India more challenging versus the rest of the world?

Regulatory challenges exist everywhere. What we look for is regulatory stability over time. We comply with local laws and regulations in every market we enter, and we have a very high bar for that around the world. It is not that India is more difficult than other places. We are focused on enabling, for our customers and sellers. We have 1.6 million sellers on our platform, with 65 per cent of them coming from small regions. Our Prime business is growing. We are increasing the speed of our delivery everywhere. Our selection is continuing to go up. We continue to invest in infrastructure. We have created 130,000 direct and indirect jobs. We are building for India.

This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of Business Standard.

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This story is from the December 11, 2024 edition of Business Standard.

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