Amazon says exports from India-based sellers cross $2 billion

Amazon.com Inc’s total exports from small and medium sellers in India, part of a company programme to export products to global markets, have crossed the $2 billion mark, two company executives said on Monday.

Amazon’s “Global Selling” programme was launched in India, a key growth market for the company, in 2015. The programme, also operational in other markets, has helped more than 60,000 Indian sellers export products to 15 Amazon websites, the company said.

During a visit to India in January, Amazon boss Jeff Bezos said the U.S. e-commerce company would invest $1 billion in digitising small- and medium-businesses in India and expected to export Indian-made goods worth $10 billion by 2025.

Current sales are still a fraction of India’s total exports of goods and services, which are estimated at nearly $530 billion in the financial year that ended on March 31.

“It took us three years plus to hit the first billion dollars, today we are able to hit the next billion dollars, 100% growth in the last 18 months,” Gopal Pillai, vice president for seller services at Amazon India, said in a phone interview.

Amazon has previously said it has also tied up with Indian banks to provide cheap loans to its small sellers.

The biggest market for Amazon’s Indian exporters is the United States, and annual events there, such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the e-tailer’s own Prime Day have helped boost sales, said Abhijit Kamra, head of global trade at Amazon India.

Apparel and jewellery, home items and leather products led the sales, although exports saw growth across several product categories, Kamra said.

Amazon’s export boost comes as India is trying to cut cheap imports from China, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for the country to be “atma-nirbhar” or self-reliant.