Jeff Bezos rides electric rickshaw; Amazon rolls out new vehicle in India

Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has unveiled a new three-wheeler electric delivery rickshaw in India. Bezos on Monday shared a 34-second long video on Twitter, saying: "Hey, India. We're rolling out our new fleet of electric delivery rickshaws. Fully electric. Zero carbon. #ClimatePledge".

The billionaire is seen having fun driving an e-rickshaw, followed by several others drivers.

E-commerce major Amazon India on Monday said it would have a fleet of 10,000 EVs plying on Indian roads by 2025.

"The fleet of 10,000 EVs - including three-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles - has been designed and manufactured by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in India," Amazon noted in its statement.

In 2020, these vehicles will operate in over 20 cities of India - Delhi NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Coimbatore, among others.

Bezos, who came to India on January 14, on a three-day visit got a cold shoulder from the government over his $1 billion investment.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said Amazon was not doing India "a great favour" by investing $1 billion in the country.

Later, Bezos in an open letter said Amazon would create one million new jobs in the country over the next five years. Goyal later said his comments on Amazon's investment had been misinterpreted.

Also read: Amazon boss Jeff Bezos holds closed-door meet with top industry honchos

Also read: Is this the real reason why Modi govt is unhappy with Jeff Bezos and Amazon?