The Climate Pledge (TCP), co-founded by Amazon, today published India’s first evidence-based roadmap for shifting freight transport from diesel to zero-exhaust-emissionbattery electric trucks (BETs) in collaboration with C40 Cities (a network of around 100 cities worldwide working on climate action).
The National EV Highway Guidance Framework recommends a phased plan to electrify India’s busiest freight routes by 2027, beginning with 20 priority highways identified by the Ministry of Heavy Industries, expanding to industrialcentres and ports and ultimately creating a seamless, EV-ready national freight network by 2035 (“Framework”).
India’s freight demand is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, increasing the need for cleaner transport solutions. Road transport already accounts for nearly 70% of goods movement in the country, while medium and heavy-dutytrucks, despite making up just 3% of vehicles on the road, contribute around 53% of particulate emissions. With demand projected to grow over four-fold by 2050, scaling electric freight will be key to reducing emissions and improving efficiency. This Frameworkoutlines practical pathways, aligned with the Government’s focus on electrification and sustainable mobility, and India’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
The Framework draws insights from Laneshift pilot project, led by C40 Cities and The Climate Pledge, by bringing together truck manufacturers, fleet operators, logistics providers, and financiers to test electric freight. As part of the project, electric trucks completed 600 trips on the Bengaluru–Chennaicorridor, covering over 200,000 km across sectors, generating insights on performance, reliability and cost, and supporting early adoption through long-term contracts. To assess scalability, the project also undertook a 6,500-km pilot along the Golden Quadrilateral,connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata.
Laneshift project demonstrated operational viability of electric freight across all use cases, and commercial viability for operations exceeding 400 km per day. The project saw 4.2-times increase in electric truck orders and the securingof long-term commercial contracts[1] , signaling growing market confidence.
“Decarbonizing freight is not a future ambition; it is an immediate economic and public health imperative for the country. Laneshift has shown that zero-exhaust-emission trucks can operate commercially on long-haul corridors, that costsare coming down, and that when the right stakeholders align their efforts, barriers give way. India has the scale, the policy momentum, and the industry appetite to be the next frontier,” said Naim Keruwala, Regional Director for South and West Asia at C40 Cities. The Framework identifies key areas for action across infrastructure, demand, and operations.
Amazon India today announced plans to deploy around 1,000 electric trucks, developed in collaboration with Eicher Trucks and Buses, a businessdivision of VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), to support Amazon Now’s operations across the country. The deployment is expected to be one of India’s largest dedicated electric truck fleets in the ecommerce and quick commerce sectors and further strengthens Amazon’sefforts to build a more sustainable transportation network.
As part of this collaboration, VECV has developed the Eicher Pro-X small truck— a compact electric truck purpose-built for high-frequency, intra-city operations. These vehicles will move goodsbetween Amazon’s fulfilment hubs, typically located in the outskirts of the city and Amazon Now micro-fulfilment centres located closer to customers.
Amazon has already deployed around 50 of these trucks and plans to scale the fleet to over 1,000 electric trucks by 2028. In daily operations, these trucks are expected to cover 100–180 km andsupport multiple trips between facilities, with a fast-charging time of around 50 minutes. The fleet will be deployed across key cities starting with Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Mumbai, supporting the rapid expansion of Amazon Now, that delivers thousands ofeveryday essentials—from groceries and personal care items to electronic accessories and festive supplies, within minutes.
The company recently announced plan to expand Amazon Now to 100 cities across India and scale up its network to more than 1,000 micro-fulfillment centers (MFCs), bringing the ultra-fast delivery service to customersacross cities including Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kochi, Mangalore, and Vizag.
Amazon and VECV have been working together since 2022 to develop electric trucks tailored for e-commerce operations in India. In 2025, Amazon deployed over 100 electric trucks with multipleautomakers across cities such as Delhi NCR, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata—part of its broader efforts to decarbonize transportation while improving speed and operational efficiency.
Amazon has been an early adopter of electric mobility in India and has deployed over 12,500 electric vehicles across more than 500 cities, working with multiple manufacturers and partners toelectrify both last-mile and middle-mile transportation.
