Amazon names veteran Samir Kumar as new India chief

Authors: Sai Ishwarbharath B and VarunVyas Hebbalalu

(Reuters) – Amazon.com named Samir Kumar as its new head of its India division on Wednesday, handing the reins to a 25-year veteran of the company as the e-commerce giant grapples with fierce competition and regulatory pressure in the country.

Kumar was part of the team that launched Amazon India in 2013 and will take over from Manish Tiwary on October 1, in addition to his current role as head of Amazon’s consumer businesses in the Middle East, South Africa and Turkey.

Tiwary resigned last month after an eight-year career with Amazon to pursue opportunities outside the company, Amazon said without providing further details.

The management change comes as the American e-commerce giant is expanding rapidly in India, where it plans to invest $26 billion by 2030, even as it faces tough regulatory scrutiny.

Last week, Reuters reported that India’s antitrust regulator found that Amazon and its biggest local rival Flipkart broke the law by favoring select sellers, prioritizing certain deals and giving deep discounts on products, hurting other businesses.

An MP from India’s ruling party and a major retail group have also called on the country’s government to suspend the operations of Amazon and Flipkart over antitrust violations.

“There have been some murmurs from government politicians about how Amazon is influencing small businesses and even consumers and mistreating warehouse workers. Samir will have to deal with the regulatory fallout,” said Jaspreet Bindra, founder of consulting firm Tech Whisperer.

(Reporting by Indranil Sarkar, Sai Ishwarbharath B and Varun Hebbalalu in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D’Souza and Varun HK)