Amazon boosts India logistics capacity 50% ahead of festive season
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Amazon is taking a big leap on the logistics infrastructure needed to handle India’s festive shopping rush, with a sharp expansion of its network beyond the country’s metros. The e-commerce major will add 20 fulfilment centres, six sort centres and 150 last mile delivery stations, taking its total storage capacity up 50% to 64 million cubic feet.
The expansion is particularly focused on smaller cities. Seven of the new fulfilment centres and all six sort centres will come up in non-metro locations, including Amazon’s first fulfilment centres in Raipur, Ranchi and Varanasi. The company is also adding its first delivery stations in 12 cities, including Bhojpur, Bokajan, Jalaun, Jehanabad, Namsai, Puruliya, Ribhoi, Senapati, Sivasagar, Udalguri, Ukhrul and Wokha.
The move comes as e-commerce companies prepare for a sharp increase in demand during the festive period, while competition for faster delivery continues to intensify. Amazon said its expanded network is intended to bring seller inventory closer to customers and improve delivery speeds across more regions.
The six new sort centres in Chikkaballapur, Hassan, Meerut, Ramanagar, Raipur and Varanasi will increase Amazon’s total sortation area by 25%, from 2.4 million square feet to 3 million square feet. Meanwhile, the 150 new last mile delivery stations will span 118 cities, including Asansol, Bathinda, Bikaner, Coimbatore, Doda, Etawah, Gaya, Hosur, Jaunpur, Junagadh, Madurai, Nellore, Puri, Siliguri, Solapur, Tiruvannamalai, Tumkur and Udhampur.
Smaller cities become a bigger part of Amazon’s delivery strategy
The scale-up also comes with a push to improve delivery speeds. Amazon said same-day deliveries have reached 30% more cities over the past year, as the company expands its network deeper into Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.
“At Amazon, our focus has always been on getting closer to customers and sellers so we can serve them faster and more reliably,” Abhinav Singh, VP, operations, India, APAC, Middle East, Türkiye and Africa, Amazon, said.
The company is investing more than ₹2,800 crore, or around $300 million, this year to strengthen and upgrade its India operations network and the technology supporting it. The latest capacity addition is part of that investment.
Amazon is also preparing for the seasonal hiring spike that comes with the festive rush. It has announced 160,000 seasonal job opportunities across its operations network, spanning 400 cities, including metros as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 locations.
At the same time, Amazon is expanding Amazon Now, its quick commerce operation. The company says orders on the service have been doubling every quarter, making it the fastest-growing e-commerce business unit in Amazon India’s history. Amazon Now is currently available in more than 55 cities through over 750 stores, with plans to eventually reach more than 300 cities. It had earlier announced to deploy around 1,000 electric trucks by 2028 for its quick commerce arm.
The combination of conventional e-commerce infrastructure and quick commerce capacity is expected to help Amazon prepare for higher-than-before demand this festive season.