With 12 facilities, Flipkart's supply chain infra in Bengal to provide more than 57K jobs

Kolkata: Owing to the conducive policy support in Bengal, including single-window policy and availability of skilled workforce, Flipkart—which has 12 facilities in the state, employing directly and indirectly over 57,000 people to help over 15,000 sellers connect with millions of customers across the country—has one of the highest concentration of its supply chain infrastructure in the state, including the country's largest fulfillment centre in Haringhata.

Recently, the company inaugurated India's largest fulfillment centre in Haringhata in the state earlier this year on the sidelines of Bengal Global Business Summit 2022. Spread across a built up area of 2 million square feet, this largest facility for Flipkart will help create more than 11,000 job opportunities in the state and support thousands of sellers from Bengal and the North-East.

Flipkart's senior vice-president and head of eKart Hemant Badri, said: "West Bengal is an attractive investment destination owing to its business friendly policies and ease of doing business which is why Flipkart has one of the highest concentration of its supply chain infrastructure in the state, including one of Asia's largest fulfillment centre in Haringhata."

The growth has positively impacted the farmers, artisans and the kirana stores as well. Flipkart, for instance, has 39 Samarth partners, including eight government entities (Tantuja Sarees, Biswa Bangla, CLC Midnapore Municipality, Tribes India Kolkata), and various NGO Partners, rural women entrepreneurs, specially-abled entrepreneurs etc. The state also has thousands of 'kirana' partners who double up as delivery partners for e-commerce companies while enabling them to earn additional income and support their livelihood.

This has been enabled through equal partnerships with various state departments Paschim Banga Society of Skill Development (PBSSD), West Bengal Government's Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Textiles (MSME&T) Department to impart relevant industry training and knowledge to help create a pool of skilled supply chain operations talent in the state. Several companies, including Flipkart, have signed several Memorandum of Understanding with various state departments to ensure upliftment of farmers and artisans from the state and connect them with the e-commerce value chain.

Meanwhile, Bengal has attracted significant investments from leading e-commerce companies who have set up their logistics hubs across the state and has become a window for North Eastern states to connect with e-commerce.