Amazon Smbhav Summit 2025: How Amazon Plans To Deepen Its India Commitment

Amazon SMBHAV Summit 2025: Amazon used the sixth annual Smbhav Summit in New Delhi to emphasise how pivotal India is to its global plans. Armed with an economic impact report from Keystone Strategy, Amazon provided details of past investments as well as an ambitious roadmap for the rest of this decade – making clear its goal to play an ongoing role in India's digital economy, small business growth, exports and job creation – through Keystone's report and Amazon's investments backed up with Keystone Strategy's report. Throughout their presentations at this summit, they focused on tangible outcomes while connecting Amazon plans directly with India's Atmanirbhar Bharat/Vikasit Bharat visions (which were also hosted by Keystone Strategy).

$40 Billion Invested, Millions Impacted

According to the Keystone report released at the summit, Amazon has invested nearly $40 billion in India since 2010. This includes spending on infrastructure, technology, and employee compensation. Over the years, these investments have helped digitise more than 12 million small businesses and enabled over $20 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports from India.

The report also highlighted Amazon’s role in employment. In 2024 alone, its operations supported around 2.8 million direct, indirect, induced, and seasonal jobs across sectors such as logistics, technology, retail, and creative services.

A Fresh $35 Billion Push Through 2030

At the summit, Amazon announced plans to invest more than $35 billion more in India by 2030. This upcoming investment will focus on three core areas:

- AI-driven digitization

- Export growth

- Job creation

By the end of the decade, Amazon expects to support 3.8 million jobs and enable $80 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports from India.

Taking Made-in-India Products Global

Exports were a major theme at Smbhav 2025. As Amazon Global Selling completes 10 years in India, the company introduced a new initiative called “Accelerate Exports”. The programme aims to link digital entrepreneurs with trusted manufacturers and help manufacturers become global sellers.

Amazon also announced on-ground onboarding drives across manufacturing hubs like Tirupur, Kanpur, and Surat, along with a partnership with the Apparel Export Promotion Council to expand the programme nationwide.

AI for Businesses, Shoppers, and Students

Amazon’s AI plans go beyond commerce. By 2030, the company aims to bring AI tools to 15 million small businesses, improve shopping experiences for hundreds of millions of customers, and provide AI education to 4 million government school students. This effort aligns with India’s push for inclusive digital and AI education under the National Education Policy 2020.

My Thoughts

What stood out at the Smbhav Summit was the focus on scale with responsibility. Amazon didn’t just talk about growth numbers; it spoke about infrastructure, skills, and access. The mix of AI, exports, and jobs feels practical rather than flashy. If even a large part of these plans are executed well, Amazon’s next phase in India could shape how small businesses, students, and global trade evolve over the next five years.