Is India the new Silicon Valley? Amazon ups investment to $5 billion
India is the new Silicon Valley. At least that鈥檚 how Amazon sees it.
The e-commerce powerhouse will invest another $3 billion on top of the more than $2 billion it committed to the country last year, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos announced Tuesday in Washington.
With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, Mr. Bezos said the South Asian country is Amazon鈥檚 , reported Reuters.
鈥淚 can assure you it鈥檚 only the beginning, and as we say in Amazon, 鈥榠t鈥檚 only day one,鈥欌�� said Bezos. He said the investments will spur startups in India, and accelerate the country鈥檚 role as a 鈥渉ub for innovation and digital entrepreneurship,鈥� wrote Reuters.
The announcement comes as Amazon鈥檚 domestic competitors have fumbled to raise cash there, leaving the e-commerce market open for the taking. Even so, the impact Amazon鈥檚 investments could have on the Indian economy could be revolutionary. Amazon鈥檚 growth there, in addition to to the country in May, could elevate India to one of the tech capitals of the world, alongside Silicon Valley, Boston, London, and Beijing.
Part of Amazon鈥檚 plan for India is to expand its cloud services there, the online retailer鈥檚 division. Bezos said Amazon plans to open a in the country this year. Amazon describes a "cloud region" as "a physical location in the world where we have multiple Availability Zones. Availability Zones consist of one or more discrete data centers, each with redundant power, networking and connectivity, housed in separate facilities."
India would also become home to the firm鈥檚 largest software engineering and development center outside of the US, said Bezos. The center would be in Hyderabad, alongside the development center for Map apps for the iPhone, iPad, Mac and iWatch, wrote CNET in May. Apple鈥檚 facility will create 4,000 jobs, said CEO Tim Cook.
"The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations," said Mr. Cook, according to CNET.
Amazon鈥檚 development center in Hyderabad would also create a 鈥渟ignificant鈥� number of jobs over time through Amazon Cloud Services, said Bezos. An Amazon spokesman declined to tell The Wall Street Journal how would be allocated or over what period.
India is already an emerging global technology hub. With investments from Amazon, Google, and Apple, Hyderabad will only contribute to India鈥檚 startup scene centered in Bengaluru. During a December visit, Google CEO聽Sundar Pichai聽announced a program to train 2 million developers in the country, for which it will partner with 30 universities across India. The Indian-born CEO also shared plans to expand free WiFi in 100 railway stations and a rural internet program for women from pilot to full-scale program to cover three lakh villages in three years, .
Amazon鈥檚 investment will also serve its own, e-commerce interests. It could position Amazon to take over the Indian online retail market from startups Flipkart Internet Pvt. and Snapdeal.com. Bezos鈥檚 announcement comes as the Indian companies have failed to raise additional cash, after they burned through millions of dollars every month to fund deep discounts, wrote The Wall Street Journal.
Amazon and Apple鈥檚 commitments to India also play into the country鈥檚 vision for its own future, as 海角大神 wrote in March.
With plenty of fanfare in Delhi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in January聽the $1.5 billion聽聽to enhance India's economic growth and expand Internet access nationwide.
It seems that Mr. Modi rightly believes in the power of technology to facilitate his country's economic development. Increased connectivity can help Indians deliver goods and services across the country and participate in the global economy.
