Amazon India’s exports from small and medium sellers in the country, part of a company program to ship products to global markets, have crossed the $3 billion mark, the e-commerce major said on Thursday.

The firm said it has digitized 2.5 million micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) and helped create nearly 1 million jobs in the country to date. On a visit to India in January last year, Amazon.com Inc’s chief Jeff Bezos, at the inaugural ‘Smbhav Summit’, had said that the US-based firm will invest $1 billion in digitizing small- and medium businesses in India, and expected to export India-made goods worth $10 billion by 2025.

Amazon’s “Global Selling” program was launched in India, a key growth market for the company, in 2015. The program, also operational in other geographies, has helped around 70,000 India-based sellers reach 17 international markets. The biggest market for Amazon’s Indian exporters is the United States. By July last year, exports had touched the $2 billion mark for Amazon India.

“The last year was challenging but the pandemic but the pace of digitization was accelerated due to the pandemic. While e-commerce in India is still nascent, it will play a critical role in the economic recovery of the country,” Amit Agarwal, global senior vice president and country head of Amazon India said in an interview.

It took Amazon India three years to hit the first billion dollars in exports, the second billion came in 18 months and the third one has taken about a year. The second edition of the Smbhav Summit is scheduled for April second week.

Amazon has said there is demand from global customers for products such as STEM toys, jewelry, bed linen, healthcare products, tea, leather products among others.