Online retail firms Amazon and Flipkart are to lease over 3 million square feet of space for warehousing purposes across major consumption centres. The move is in line with the current lockdown situation, post which the online retailers are speculating to make a major comeback.
Amazon India has contracted 2 million square feet even as Walmart-owned Flipkart has contracted 1 million square feet across cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Coimbatore, confirmed persons aware of the development.
The new facilities across these hubs are slated to be operational by the end of the year under the built-to-suit model as the two online majors are looking at expanding their footprint in India.
The work on the contracts had been on even before the COVID-19 pandemic and is part of both the companies’ growth strategy for the Indian market.
The firms have picked up spaces for around 10 years with a lock-in period of 5 years each.
Meanwhile, the e-commerce firms including Amazon, Flipkart and others have been given relaxations starting today to start operations and deliver even non-essentials to districts categorised as green and orange zones.
However, with many states yet to give their guidelines for online firms and a large number of sellers being in the red zones, a very small percentage of merchants on both Amazon and Flipkart will be able to start operations and sell non-essential merchandise during the Lockdown 3.0.