Delhi Govt. launches Electric Vehicle Policy to boost economy, reduce pollution

The Delhi government on Friday launched its ambitious Electric Vehicle Policy, which aims to boost the city’s economy, reduce pollution levels and generate employment in the transport sector. It also includes various incentives for the promotion of the purchase of electric vehicles in the city.

While announcing the launch of the policy at a digital briefing here on Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the policy would make Delhi “a world leader” in the field of electric vehicles and that it was one of the most progressive EV policies in the world.

“After working hard in the last two-three years and holding discussions with consumers and experts, we have prepared the electric vehicle policy in Delhi. The policy has been notified today in the morning,” he announced.

“China is considered in the first position when discussions on electric vehicles are held across the world. I am sure that when discussions on electric vehicles will be held across the world after five years, Delhi will be leading the way in this field,” he also said.

Mr. Kejriwal said that there were two objectives behind launching the EV Policy: as another step to kickstart the city’s economy and to combat pollution.

In the last five years, he said, pollution levels in Delhi had reduced by 25%, but these needed to be reduced further. During the pandemic, PM10 and PM2.5 levels had witnessed “a drastic reduction” as evidenced by clear skies and clean breezes.

CM Arvind Kejriwal said, “We have held several discussions on the policy in the last 2.5 years. We held consultations, called experts from across the country, studied the electric vehicle policies of nations all over the globe and took all the good points for the creation of our policy,” he said.

“But there may be some lags in the policy as nothing is perfect. This policy shows the intent of the Delhi government; that we want to go in a better direction. Right now, this policy is for three years, after which it will be reviewed. If required, we will reframe and change this policy from time to time,” he also said.

The aim of the Delhi government, he said, was to ensure that 25% of the newly registered vehicles across the city by the year 2024 were electric vehicles. Today, he said, this percentage was only 0.2%.

Under the EV Policy, the Delhi government would also provide a subsidy of up to ₹30,000 on the purchase of two-wheelers, autorickshaws, e-rickshaws, freight vehicles, each, and of ₹1.5 lakh on cars.

These, he said, would be in addition to the incentives under the Central government’s ‘FAME India’ Phase 2. The Delhi government would also provide scrapping incentives in a first across the country, he said.

The government would also officer low interest rates for the purchase of electric commercial vehicles, waive off registration fees and road tax on newly registered electric vehicles and aim to create a network of charging stations in the city.

200 charging stations

“Our target is to create 200 charging stations in the next one year in Delhi. Our aim is to create one charging station every 3 km. We hope that at least 5 lakh electric vehicles in Delhi will be registered in the next five years,” he also said.