New Delhi: Amazon chief Jeff Bezos on Wednesday said the e-commerce major will invest $1 billion (over Rs 7,000 crore) in digitising small and medium businesses in India.
The company will use its global footprint to export $10 billion worth of Make In India goods by 2025, Bezos said at the Amazon SMBhav summit which will focus on discussions around how technology adoption can enable small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India.
He also stated that the India-US alliance will be the most important in 21st century.
Bezos is in India this week and is expected to meet top government functionaries, business leaders and SMBs.
Amazon has pumped over Rs 1,700 crore into its payments and wholesale business units in India, signalling opportunity that the US giant sees in the country.
Amazon Pay India has received Rs 1,355 crore from Amazon Corporate Holdings and Amazon.com.incs.Limited, while Amazon Wholesale (India) allotted shares worth about Rs 360 crore to Amazon Corporate Holdings and Amazon.com.incs.Limited, regulatory documents filed with the corporate affairs ministry showed.
In a tweet, Bezos shared a video of his visit to Raj Ghat.
"Just landed in India and spent a beautiful afternoon paying my respects to someone who truly changed the world. "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Mahatma Gandhi," Bezos said in his tweet.
The top executive's visit comes at a time when India's antitrust body, Competition Commission of India has ordered an investigation into alleged violations of competition laws by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
Thousands of small-scale traders' union under Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) are planning to hold protests around the country during Bezos' stay in India.
Last year, the government had tightened rules for e-commerce marketplaces with foreign investment. These rules barred such platforms from offering products of sellers in which they hold a stake, and banned exclusive marketing arrangements among other clauses.
Following this, Amazon restructured its joint ventures to ensure compliance.