Amazon.com Inc CEO Jeff Bezos said his company will invest $1 billion to bring small businesses online in India, reaching out to some of his fiercest critics in a goodwill visit that saw him donning traditional Indian attire.
The investment of $1 billion will help bring more than 10 million Indian businesses online and enable exports of India-made goods worth $10 billion by 2025, Amazon said.
Amazon and Walmart’s Flipkart have been hit with a barrage of criticism from India’s brick-and-mortar retailers who accuse the U.S. giants of violating Indian law with deep discounts and discriminating against small sellers by promoting select big ones. The companies deny the allegations.
The $1 billion investment announced adds to $5.5 billion of investments in India announced by Amazon since 2014.