Amazon appoints Samir Kumar as India chief after Manish Tiwary’s departure – India TV

New Amazon India boss: E-commerce giant Amazon announced on Wednesday (September 18) that Samir Kumar will take over as its new country director for India, replacing Manish Tiwary, who resigned last month. Kumar will continue to lead Amazon’s consumer businesses in the Middle East, South Africa and Turkey, in addition to his new role in India.

According to an official statement, Kumar is working closely with Manish Tiwary in the transition process and will take over operational responsibilities in India from October 1.

Amit Agarwal, Amazon’s senior vice president of emerging markets, said in an internal email today that Samir Kumar will take on the responsibility of running India as country manager, in addition to his current role of heading Amazon’s consumer business in the Middle East, South Africa, and Turkey.

25-year veteran Samir Kumar will head the Indian business

“Samir Kumar, an Amazon employee with 25 years of experience, will oversee Amazon’s consumer business in India as Manish Tiwary, current country director of Amazon India, has decided to explore growth opportunities outside of Amazon,” the company said.

Samir, who joined Amazon in 1999, was part of the original team that planned and launched Amazon.in in 2013. Kumar currently heads Amazon’s consumer businesses in West Asia, South Africa and Turkey.

With the leadership change, the current team of key executives at Amazon India, including Saurabh Srivastava (Categories), Harsh Goyal (Daily Essentials), Amit Nanda (Market) and Aastha Jain (Growth Initiatives) will now report to Samir. Kishore Thota (Emerging Markets Shopping Experience) will report directly to Amit Agarwal, the company said.

“India remains a major priority for Amazon”

“India remains a key priority for Amazon and I am very excited about the opportunity ahead as we continue to transform lives and livelihoods. We have a strong local leadership bench and, together with Samir’s experience in emerging markets, I am even more optimistic about our future plans to serve customers and businesses in India,” Agarwal said.

Agarwal also lauded Tiwary for “leading the Amazon.in journey that has made Amazon.in the de facto entry point for Indians looking to buy and sell anything online” and wished him luck in his future endeavours.

Also read: Amazon India CEO Manish Tiwary resigns, ending eight-year association with the company

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