Amazon India Chief Manish Tiwary Steps Down

Amazon’s head of India operations Manish Tiwary has resigned after an over eight-year stint with the company. 

Tiwary joined Amazon India in 2016 as the vice president and rose through the ranks to become country manager in 2020. Prior to that, he worked with the Unilever Group.

Confirming his resignation, a spokesperson of Amazon India said that Tiwary has decided to “pursue an opportunity outside of the company”. 

“Manish’s leadership over the last eight years has been instrumental in delivering for customers and sellers, making Amazon.in the preferred marketplace in India. Manish will continue with Amazon until October to help ensure a smooth transition,” the spokesperson said.

While the spokesperson didn’t mention who will succeed Tiwary, a report by ET said that Amazon India is unlikely to announce an immediate replacement for Tiwary.

“India is an important priority for Amazon. We are excited by the momentum and business results we have already achieved, and we are even more optimistic about the significant opportunities ahead to innovate on behalf of our customers and digitally transform lives and livelihoods. Amit Agarwal, SVP India and Emerging Markets, will remain closely involved with the Amazon.in team, guiding its strong bench of leaders to deliver on this opportunity,” the spokesperson added.

India is an important market for Amazon. The ecommerce giant competes with the likes of Walmart-owned Flipkart and Meesho in the burgeoning segment.

Amid the rising popularity of quick commerce in the country, Amazon was also said to be looking to acquire a stake in IPO-bound Swiggy’s quick commerce vertica Instamart.

The company has also been expanding its presence in other segments. It recently signed an agreement to purchase some assets of video streaming platform MX Player.

Last month, Amazon Pay also received an import-only cross-border payment aggregator (PA) licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

However, Amazon India continues to be a loss-making entity. Amazon Seller Services, the marketplace business of Amazon India, saw its net loss jump 33% year-on-year to INR 4,854.1 Cr in FY23. Operating revenue rose a mere 3.4% YoY to INR 22,198 Cr.