World

Hungover on India: Amazon's Jeff Bezos Announces New Electric Rickshaws for Parcel Deliveries

New Delhi (Sputnik): Jeff Bezos, CEO of US-based e-commerce giant Amazon was on his three-day India tour last week when he announced an investment of $1 billion towards digitizing small and medium business in the country.
Sputnik

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday announced that he was introduced a fleet of electric vehicles for deliveries in India.

The 56-year old multi-billionaire took to Twitter to share a 34-second-long snippet of himself riding one of the battery-powered “e-rickshaws” dedicated for Amazon deliveries, along with an eco-friendly hashtag -- #ClimatePledge

​With electric delivery vehicles, Bezos aims to reduce the carbon footprint produced by his company. The video, however, did not specify the time-frame for roll out of the electric vehicles in India.

During its “Smbhav” event in New Delhi, Bezos revealed plans to use Amazon’s global footprint to export $10 billion worth of "Made in India" goods.

One of the richest men in the world, whose net worth is estimated to be over $110 billion, also predicted that the "21st century is going to be an Indian century".

Bezos visited Mumbai, India’s economic capital, during his India visit and enjoyed himself “Bollywood Style” with B-town biggies including Shah Rukh Khan, Zoya Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar among others. The Amazon CEO also made deliveries to local shops.

Bezos, however, failed to meet any of the government's representatives during his visit to the national capital. His offer of $1billion in investment capital was cold shouldered by India’s federal Trade Minister Piyush Goyal, who said Amazon was not doing any favours for India. Goyal, however, made an about-turn and said, India welcomes all investments, provided it follows the rules.

Bezos’ fleet of e-vehicles comes at a time Tesla chief Elon Musk has offered reasons for electric cars still not running on Indian roads. In the past, Musk has blamed import duties and sales tax in India, that could make Tesla EVs unaffordable in the country.

 

 

Discuss