On Wednesday Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) opened its biggest campus in the world in Hyderabad, India. This is the first-ever office that Amazon has opened outside the US.
New Hyderabad campus
The big campus in Hyderabad’s financial district sits on 9.5 acres of land with office space of 1.8 million square feet. Amazon has indicated that this is its single largest building globally in terms of total area. The retailer will now have close to 4 million square feet of office space in the city which excludes the fulfillment center.
It is expected that the campus will be able to accommodate close to 15,000 employees which are about 25% of the total number of the company’s full-time employees in India of around 62,000. India is Amazon’s largest base outside the US and the retailer has more than 155,000 contract employees in the country.
Amazon has invested billions of dollars in the expansion of operations in India in the past few years. The company is looking to gain a competitive edge against Walmart in the e-commerce market that is predicted to be worth more than $200 billion by 2027.
Amazon seeks to leverage the potential of the Indian population
The motivation behind the establishment is the fact e-commerce in India makes a negligible percentage of retail consumption in the country which is less than 3%. The campus is part of the company’s long-term strategy as it seeks to leverage India’s large population. India has more than 600 million internet users but most of the population is not yet connected.
The retailer wants to cash on the potential the population presents. The company is expanding its grocery business and it has also enhanced its Prime Video streaming service by offering more Indian content. To make it more appealing to the population the company’s mobile app is now available in Hindi.
The Amazon VP for global real estate and facilities, John Schoettler stated that the journey has begun for the retailer of creating an environment where various contributions and innovations are encouraged. Amazon plans to expand the Hyderabad campus to cover around 68 acres.
