Amazon Signs Pact To Promote Indian State Content

An employee walks past a wall display for Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime Video streaming service at the company's office campus in Hyderabad, India, on Friday, Sept. 6, 2019. Amazon's only company-owned campus outside the U.S. opened at the end of August on the other side of the globe, thousands of miles from their Seattle headquarters. The 15-storey building towers over the landscape in Hyderabad's technology and financial district, signaling the giant online retailer's ambitions to expand in one of the world's fastest-growing retail markets.

Written by
Sankalp Phartiyal
Written by

Sankalp Phartiyal

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(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is partnering with India's federal government to stream movies and TV shows from state-run studios as well as provide internships to students from government film institutes in a key market for the US e-commerce giant.

India's broadcasting ministry and Amazon signed an agreement on Wednesday, the company said in a statement, adding that the move “strengthens our commitment to globally promote and showcase India's creative talent and stories through our multiple services.” Amazon's India unit will also introduce a special feature to promote books and journals from the ministry's publication arm.

India is a key growth market for Amazon and its Prime Video streaming service, but it's also a country where the firm has faced antitrust challenges, legal battles for hurting religious sentiments in its TV shows and allegations of undercutting mom-and-pop stores. The tie up comes before national elections next year where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will probably seek a third term.

The partnership with a government ministry is a rare move for the Seattle, Washington-headquartered company. Last year, it committed to spend £10 million ($12.5 million) over three years as it announced a collaboration with the UK's National Film & Television School to give students career opportunities in company-commissioned productions.

Despite the high volume of movies produced each year, mainly through the Hindi-language industry based in Mumbai — Indian films haven't yet managed to earn the kind of global crossover appeal South Korean content has, with award-winning titles such as “Parasite” or Netflix's “Squid Game.” Netflix last year signed a pact with India's government to create training programs for post-production and animation, Deccan Herald newspaper reported.

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“The partnership with Amazon India is unique on a number of counts,” Anurag Thakur, India's Minister for Information & Broadcasting, said in the statement. The partnership would provide scholarships, internships and masterclasses for students “and help to reduce the period of struggle for the talented artists,” he added.

(Updates with comment from Indian ministry)

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