By Abdul Hafiz Lakhani

Our Correspondent, Ahmadabad

World largest online retailer Amazon plans to expand its infrastructure in India with its second ‘fulfilment’ centre in Gujarat as part of the company’s $2 billion investment plan for the country.

According to sources, the US-based firm has approached the Gujarat government for setting up the centre next year and the firm is expected to start engaging with state government officials soon on the matter.

The company, which competes fiercely in the burgeoning e-Commerce market in India with local players like Flipkart, Snapdeal and other smaller firms, already has a network of seven centres across the country totalling over half a million sq feet area.

Sources said the new centre will bring significant benefits to the state in terms of investment, employment, enhanced revenues as well as scaling up of small and medium businesses.

“Besides providing affordable goods to consumers, it will also give a boost to various ancillary industries in Gujarat,” they added.

Amazon currently has a total of 7 fulfilment centres on the outskirts of Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Tauru (outskirts of Gurgaon).

In July, Amazon had said it will invest $2 billion over the next few years to support its rapid growth and enhance customer and seller experience.

The announcement came a day after Flipkart announced a $1 billion funding. Last week, Snapdeal also received a $627 million funding from Japanese telecom major SoftBank.

Sources said Amazon sees Gujarat as an “ideal state” given the ease of doing business, world class infrastructure, industry-friendly policies and growing consumer demand.

Amazon senior executives had met Gujarat Finance and Energy Minister Saurabh Patel and other senior officials from the state government last month to discuss the company’s expansion plans and explore partnership options.