The massive campus of the e-commerce firm, Amazon, in the city, a three-million square foot built-up area with a range of facilities for 15,000 employees, was accorded all approvals in 11 days by the State government.
IT and Industries Secretary Jayesh Ranjan highlighted this at the inauguration of what is now the largest campus building of Amazon globally on Wednesday.
Recalling that the project, spread on 9.5 acres, was constructed in a little over three years, the senior official said it was a test case for the State government and its TS-iPASS policy for time-bound clearances when the project came up for approval.
“In 11 days, we were able to give approvals,” he said, pointing out it was an easy task considering the scale and features proposed in the project. Noting that the building was poised to emerge as an iconic structure, he urged the company to promote globally the textile and handicrafts of Telangana.
According to Amazon, thousands of employees on the campus would benefit from the agile-based work environment, where they can select from a variety of workspaces to suit their needs.
The facility, located in the Financial District, features casual, collaborative workspaces, as well as private areas for concentration and confidentiality. Interfaith prayer rooms, mothers’ room, quiet rooms, showers, helipad and an all-day open cafeteria are designed to facilitate inclusion and diversity. It is also the first Amazon facility to create an Alexa Pod and experiment the Inside Day 1 Alexa Skill (Beta).
With 15,000 work points across 1.8 million square foot in office space, this is Amazon’s single largest building in terms of total area. Country head Amit Agarwal said the company has set in motion a process of consolidating its operations in Hyderabad – which at multiple locations hosts one-third of Amazon’s India headcount – at the campus.
“It is natural for us to bring people together in one place. This large building also gives us enough space to grow… we will do that in phases. Already, 4,000 employees have moved in [to the new campus] from other locations in Hyderabad,” he said. Several technology/engineering and operations teams operate from Amazon’s various offices in the city where the company has customer service operation too. Amazon also has three fulfilment centres in Telangana, offering more than 3.2 million cubic feet of storage space to sellers, two sort centres with 1 lakh sq. ft. of processing capacity and 90 delivery stations, the release said. Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali highlighted the industry-friendly policies of the State government on the occasion.
