Page Loader
Piyush Goyal snubs Bezos's $1bn investment announcement, Chidambaram slams him

Piyush Goyal snubs Bezos's $1bn investment announcement, Chidambaram slams him

Jan 17, 2020
08:39 pm

What's the story

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos came to India bearing gifts. The world's richest man promised to invest $1 billion to digitize small businesses, but this offer was welcomed rudely. Union Minister Piyush Goyal said Bezos wasn't doing India a "favor". This remark evoked a sharp reaction from Congress leader P Chidambaram who sarcastically said this snub will help the country become a $5 trillion economy.

Visit

Context: A probe and protest welcomed Bezos in India

Bezos's three-day India visit came close on heels of a probe which the government ordered. On Monday, the Competition Commission of India launched an investigation against Amazon and Flipkart on allegations that the e-commerce companies favored some brands over others. Apart from this, local traders also launched a countrywide protest against Bezos claiming he was hurting small businesses since Amazon gave heavy discounts.

Announcement

Facing ire, Bezos made a huge promise

In a bid to win over the lost trust, Bezos announced at Amazon India's event that he will invest a whopping $1 billion in India. Besides, the e-commerce giant will also utilize its global footprint to boost Indian exports. "Our hope is that this investment will expose the world to the 'Make in India' products that represent India's rich, diverse culture," Bezos announced.

Reaction

Not a great favor: Bezos's announcement received rude response

Surprisingly, Bezos's announcement received a cold response. Downplaying it, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Thursday, "They may have put in a billion dollars, but then, if they make a loss of a billion dollars every year, then they jolly well have to finance that billion dollars." He added that Amazon was not doing "a great favor to India".

Comment

Another BJP leader criticized WaPo, owned by Bezos

Like Goyal, another BJP leader also slammed Bezos. Vijay Chauthaiwale, the in-charge of Foreign Affairs Department in BJP, told IE that WashingtonPost, a portal which Amazon owns, is biased towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "While Bezos is so positive about India and its democracy, I want to say that he should give the same message to his people at Washington Post," the minister said.

Details

Why not snub more people, Chidambaram asked Goyal

Considering India's economy is going through a crisis, Goyal's response to Bezos was bound to earn criticism. Notably, the first one to comment on it was Chidambaram, the former Finance Minister of India. One of the tweets which he posted read, "The snub will reverse the five successive month decline in Imports and the eight successive month decline in Exports. (sic)"

Twitter Post

You can read the entire thread here

Jobs

Bezos also promised to create 10 lakh jobs across India

The comment from a cabinet minister, notwithstanding, Bezos continued to woo India. After the $1 billion investment announcement, he declared to create an additional 10 lakh jobs across the country by 2025, saying he falls in love with India on every visit. This announcement too should have sent a wave of happiness since India's unemployment touched a four-decade high in 2017-18.

Do you know?

Without meeting any minister, Bezos returned from India

During his brief trip, Bezos didn't meet ministers or government functionaries. As per NDTV, the 56-year-old had requested a meeting with PM Modi, but his plea was turned down almost a month ago. "Meeting Jeff Bezos cannot be considered the government's compulsion," sources said.