Jeff Bezos Brings Another Amazon Gift for India, E-Rickshaw

After an apparent snub from the Indian government, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos still tries to be offensive for India, which shows little signs of the company’s slowing down in India. After a three-day visit to India last week, the American billionaire, who is back home, tweeted a video announcing the rollout of a fleet of electric-powered delivery rickshaws.

Though at the moment, details of the plan are missing, the video shows Jeff Bezos driving one of the charcoal operated electric rickshaws in peppy promo video, which is aimed squarely at social media with a message of environment-friendly vehicle.

Jeff Bezos tweeted, “Hey, India. We’re rolling out our new fleet of electric delivery rickshaws. Fully electric. Zero carbon. #ClimatePledge”.

On Friday, in the farewell love letter to the country, the Amazon boss had promised to create a million new jobs in India. The letter also ended his tough visit to the country, which reportedly included a refusal to grant an appointment by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Jeff Bezos in his farewell letter to the country, which was later posted on the Amazon’s India website on Friday also wrote, “I fall more in love with India every time I return here. The boundless energy, innovation, and grit of the Indian people always inspire me”.

The $1-billion investment will “digitize micro and small businesses in cities, towns, and villages across India”, he added while vowing Amazon would export $10 billion of Indian made products every year enabling the creation of one million new jobs in India by 2025.

During his visit to India last week, hundreds of small traders staged protests. Anti-trust authorities have also launched a probe into the e-commerce conglomerate and its main, rival Walmart-owned Flipkart in India.

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal also dismissed the announcement made by Jeff Bezos that Amazon would invest $1 billion in India, saying “It is not as if they are doing a favor to India”. A senior BJP leader also hit out at Bezos ownership of The Washington Post, the popular American newspaper, often seen as critical of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The relationship between Bezos and governments seems not in his favour. He doesn’t have cordial ties with the government in the United States too. Late last year, Amazon has filed a case against the government of the United States, arguing that a multibillion-dollar federal contract for cloud services had been awarded to Microsoft because of the President Trump’s personal enmity towards Bezos. Though the Trump administration has denied that the president’s feelings have influenced the decision.