Amazon wants to source goods directly from Indian vendors for export and is urging the country's commerce ministry to relax FDI regulations.

According to reports, Amazon is pleading with India's commerce ministry to loosen regulations on FDI to obtain authorization to purchase items directly from Indian vendors for export. According to a Reuters report, Amazon executives lobbied for a waiver from existing FDI restrictions that prohibit online retailers from directly storing and selling products during their meeting with ministry representatives on August 21.

Currently, Indian laws restrict cross-border shipments and only permit online marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart to link buyers and sellers for a fee. Direct sales to customers, whether in the US or abroad, are still prohibited. However, three significant retailer associations at the meeting opposed the proposal.

According to reports, the groups contended that easing regulations for online retailers would further penalize small business owners, who they claim have already suffered from preferential treatment and discounted tactics used to choose big sellers.

India’s efforts to boost e-commerce exports coincide with Amazon’s push for regulatory easing. Agencies, including the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the RBI, and the Ministry of Commerce, are developing a regulatory framework to support the industry in meeting the Centre’s bold export target of $200–300 billion via e-commerce by 2030.

Amazon's India strategy currently heavily relies on e-commerce exports. To expedite Indian vendors' access to international markets, the business and the DGFT extended their Memorandum of Understanding earlier this year. Since 2015, Amazon says it has enabled $13 billion worth of exports from India and aims to increase this to $80 billion by 2030.