Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that Amazon Inc. is not doing 'a great favour' by investing $1 billion in India.
As Amazon Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos announced that the company will invest $1 billion to digitise small and medium businesses in India, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that it's not doing 'a great favour'.
The minister further added that the money is meant to cover the financial losses the e-Commerce giant has notched up in India and it raises questions about its business practices.
Goyal made the statement during the multilateral conference 'Raisina Dialogue 2020' that is currently taking place in New Delhi.
“I have on more than one occasion said this to the people of India that please follow the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Don’t try to find loopholes. They may have put in $1 billion, but if they make a loss of $1 billion every year then they jolly well have to finance that $1 billion. It is not as if they are not doing a great favour to India when they invest $ 1 billion,” the minister said.
He also stressed that e-Commerce firms that were allowed to operate through the marketplace model, and barred from multi-brand retail, needed to adhere to the rules 'in letter and spirit'.
Bezos, who is on a three-day visit to India announced on Wednesday that the firm would invest $1 billion into India to digitise micro, small and medium enterprises as part of an initiative to get them to sell on the marketplace.
At an event called ‘Amazon SMBhav’, Bezos had said that the Amazon India Marketplace's success is the reason behind his decision.
“25 years ago Amazon was an SMB. Today we are announcing that we are going to invest $1 billion in digitising SMBs,” Bezos said.
Bezos also said that his company will also export "$10 billion worth of 'Make in India' goods by 2025."
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 "Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal at Raisina Dialogue 2020")
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