With virtually all modes of transport going the hybrid way, here’s news that could make the rickshaw – which is now restricted to a few Indian cities and pockets of Asia – a possible mode of public transport.

Twenty-six-year-old Sivaraj Muthuraman, a Tirupur-based innovator, has built a ‘hybrid’ rickshaw called the Eco Free Cab, that runs on solar battery and pedal power. This invention entered the India Book of Records under the Science and Technology Category on Saturday.