Amazon Partners With Indian Railways To Place Orders During COVID-19 Lockdown

Amazon India has announced its partnership with Indian Railways to transport shipments across the country through the "COVID-19 Parcel Special Train". The new move by the US e-commerce giant will further increase the supply of essential items during the ongoing lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Last year, Amazon India had signed an agreement with Indian Railways to transport packages in 13 lanes.

Indian Railways is running various COVID-19 parcel special trains across the country to transport essential goods. Those trains will now also be benefited by Amazon for transporting e-commerce orders. The Director of Amazon India, Abhinav Singh claims in a statement that COVID-19 parcel special trains which are introduced by Indian Railways, that can further fulfil customer orders with increased speed and capacity.

Amazon and other e-commerce firms are unable to transport large orders through regular routes and air networks due to nationwide lockdowns to limit the spread of coronavirus. The government has also restricted its services for items considered as necessary by the home ministry. Thus, the partnership with Indian Railways will play an important role in reviving Amazon's business in the country. This will help the company to operate in 55 lanes during the lockdown period.

Amazon launched its 'Local Shops' at the initiative of Amazon last week to start selling goods directly from local stores in the country. The development will enable the company to do business in India by bringing new offline retailers and shoppers on board. More than 5,000 retailers are already under this program, which has been running for about six months.

Both Amazon and Flipkart are requesting the government to facilitate the sale of unnecessary items during lockdowns. But instead of granting their request, the government recently announced its decision to open nearby offline stores in non-containment areas across the country.