Amazon Partners With Indian Railways, Postal Department To Strengthen Cross-Border Logistics

E-commerce giant Amazon announced a slew of initiatives in India, along with a partnership with Indian Railways and India Post, to accelerate deliveries for customers in countries across the world. The company also launched a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool to help its sellers in backend value addition and foster the digitization of 10 million MSMEs, enabling two million jobs.

"For lakhs of small businesses across India, digitization can offer economic growth, broader customer reach, reduced marketing and distribution expenses, and access to foreign markets." Indian minister Jitendra Singh said Thursday.

Amit Agarwal, the Chief Executive Officer of Amazon India, said that the Jeff Bezos-promoted company recently announced an incremental investment of $15 billion in the country across all our businesses by 2030, according to a statement issued by the company. The additional investment increases Amazon's total India investment across all businesses to $26 billion. Through the new partnership, Amazon aims to drive $20 billion in e-commerce exports from India by 2025. Amazon's endeavors align with India's goal to reach $200 to $300 billion worth of e-commerce exports by 2030.

Agarwal explained that with the expanded network, sellers will be able to drop off their products at 600 locations across India, from where they can be exported across the world. It will also facilitate and simplify customs clearance, end-to-end logistics support, and international payments for small sellers seeking to export their products.

The new collaboration also makes Amazon the first such entity to partner with the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India (DFC) for faster deliveries.

"This makes Amazon the first e-commerce company in India to leverage the DFC for shipping customer packages through freight railway routes in India," the retail platform said in its statement.

A partnership with the Indian Postal Service will initiate the setting up of thousands of postal centers, where Amazon will provide a tech backend to help Indian small businesses work with global buyers. Through Amazon's Global Selling Program, the initiative aims to simplify cross-border logistics and compliance for Indian businesses seeking to ship their products abroad.

The development comes months after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy held a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his state visit to the U.S. in June. The two discussed several key areas, including the promotion of Indian startups, job creation in the country, digital transformation, boosting exports, and strengthening local small businesses in the global market.

Agarwal pointed out that it was Modi himself who suggested the expansion of the use of the railways and the postal department to ensure "faster deliveries and cheaper prices." In June, Amazon concluded 10 years of business in India. From introductory operations with 100 sellers, Amazon India currently has over 1.2 million sellers along with more than 4 million digitized small businesses.