Amazon says it’ll invest billions in India as tech biggies go all in on the fast-growing economy
“Made in India”… is having a moment. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Biden met in the US last week with some big tech CEOs. The goal: ramp up investments in the South Asian country that’s on pace to becoming the world’s fastest-growing economy. (FYI: India is the most populous country with 1.4B+ residents.) And tech biggies are vying to get in on the action:
Sparked up: Amazon said it would more than double its India investments to $26B by 2030 (with a big focus on growing its cloud biz), and Google said it’d build a global fintech center there.
Green light: Chipmakers Applied Materials and Micron said they’ll spend a combined $1.2B in the country, and Elon Musk said Tesla plans to invest in India as soon as possible.
A tech frenzy… Last year India ranked as the fifth-largest economy, overtaking the UK. From January to March of this year, India’s GDP growth outpaced that of China, the US, and Japan. Meanwhile, as US-China tensions escalate, more companies are boosting production in India to keep their supply chains running smoothly (aka: friend-shoring). Apple aims to make a quarter of its iPhones in India by 2025, and HP is looking to up manufacturing there too.
Old ties can open new opportunities… Biden said the US’s relationship with India is stronger than ever, essentially flipping the script after years of regulatory and political turbulence. The US is now India’s #1 trading partner, with trade up 8X in the past two decades. The latest tech-spending announcements could just be the start: JPMorgan already raised its economic forecast for India next year.