Amazon sees India as key long-term growth market: VP

Amazon said it will expand zero referral fee coverage in India to 125 million products from 12 million in 2025 as it ramps up its marketplace push.

Abhinav Singh, who leads operations for India and Australia, said sellers responded positively to the change and that ecommerce is a single-digit share of Indian retail.

Amazon has pledged over US$35 billion of investment in India through 2030, on top of nearly US$40 billion already, and it recently added an Amazon Air cargo route between Guwahati and Kolkata, which Singh said could speed up shipments in the Northeast by up to 5x.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimates Indian ecommerce at US$120 billion to US$140 billion today and projects US$280 billion to US$300 billion by 2030, with around 440 million shoppers driven by smaller cities and newer formats.

🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Amazon is playing catch-up in a seller fee war

Amazon is responding to tough competition rather than leading this approach 1.
Flipkart rolled out a nearly identical zero-commission policy for products under ₹1,000 in November 2025 1.
Meesho has used a zero-commission model since 2021, which helped it reach about 37% of India’s e-commerce orders by fiscal year 2025 2.
The market is moving away from buyer discounts and toward lower charges for merchants 3.
An earlier waiver for items under ₹300 drove a 50% rise in new sellers, which supports the case for a wider rollout 3.

Fee cuts reshape e-commerce for India’s next wave of growth

The policy aims at hyper-value commerce, which has climbed from 5% to over 12% of India’s e-retail market since 2021 4.
These marketplaces cater to smaller-city shoppers, with three in five new buyers since 2020 coming from Tier-3 cities or smaller 4.
Lower costs on cheaper items could pull in more sellers and help Amazon reach that audience.
The change also helps Amazon compete with quick commerce, a fast-delivery model projected to grow at over 40% per year through 2030 4.
Percentage-based referral fees go away, yet fixed closing and shipping charges remain, so competition may shift to delivery speed and logistics efficiency 1.