Green e-mobility  goes pink  

A significant step combining women's entrepreneurship, urban decarbonization and green mobility goals.

India’s auto‑rickshaw sector is one of the world’s largest informal mobility systems, with an estimated eight million internal combustion engine (ICE) rickshaws operating nationwide. Emerging in the mid‑20th century as a low‑cost alternative to taxis, rickshaws quickly became central to urban and peri‑urban transport. Their compact size and manoeuvrability made them ideal for navigating congested streets. Affordable purchase prices and low operating costs ensured widespread uptake by individual owner‑operators and small businesses.

Today, rickshaws are used primarily for short‑distance passenger transport, providing affordable shared rides to bus stops, workplaces and markets. They also play a vital role in last‑mile freight delivery, carrying goods through dense neighbourhoods where larger vehicles cannot easily enter.

Major urban polluters

The downside is that India’s ICE rickshaws contribute not only to greenhouse gas emissions, somewhere in the range of 8-12 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year, but also to air pollution. With their small, two‑stroke or low‑efficiency engines, they emit disproportionately high levels of particulate matter (tiny airborne particles harmful to health) and nitrous oxides (gases that pollute air and damage lungs) per kilometre compared to modern cars.

Male-dominated

The auto‑rickshaw sector in India is overwhelmingly male, with women making up only a small fraction of drivers and owners. Barriers such as financial constraints, restrictive social norms and safety concerns have kept women's participation low. 

This imbalance has significant consequences for women passengers, many of whom report harassment or discomfort when travelling in rickshaws driven by men. Surveys show that more than half of women experience harassment while using public transport, rickshaws included. These concerns over safety restrict women’s mobility, limiting access to employment, education and healthcare.

Cutting emissions, raising incomes 

Electrifying the auto‑rickshaw sector is one of the most cost‑effective and socially inclusive strategies to cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce urban air pollution. Millions of auto-rickshaw drivers are from low‑income backgrounds - often migrants or daily‑wage earners. Switching to electric vehicles lowers fuel and maintenance costs, boosting earnings and improving living standards, while also expanding opportunities to operate rickshaws as taxis. Because e‑rickshaws are 70–85% cheaper to run than their ICE counterparts, drivers can reduce fares without sacrificing profitability. This affordability, combined with cleaner and quieter rides, invariably increases passenger demand, especially in cities suffering from air and noise pollution.

Maharashtra's Pink E‑Rickshaw Initiative 

Maharashtra, in western India, s the country’s third‑largest state by area and second‑largest by population.