Amazon’s wholly-owned retailing subsidiary, Amazon Retail India – which forms the Amazon Pantry and Prime Now services that deliver groceries and other household products – is on an expansion spree.
The hub-and-spoke model, which is already present in over 100 cities, plans to increase its presence in approximately 60 Tier II & III cities, according to an Economic Times report.
To aid this expansion – comes almost two years after the government gave a nod for the firm to locally source items – Amazon is setting up delivery centres.
In April 2019, Amazon had infused Rs 240 crore into Amazon Retail India, according to its regulatory filings, signalling an increased focus on the grocery arm.
This is in stark contrast to reports, which came out post the updated the foreign direct investment rules in India in marketplaces in December, that said Amazon was all set to shut down its food business in India. When the Indian government later exempted companies with FDI in food retail, Amazon resumed its food operations.
