1,000 electric buses, 200 EV charging stations for Delhi; Centre assures subsidy

Delhi Transport minister Kailash Gahlot on Thursday discussed the issue of installation of charging stations as per AAP government's new Electric Vehicle policy with Union Power minister R K Singh and said the Centre assured that subsidy will be provided for 1,000 electric buses in the city.

"Gahlot and Singh discussed installation of charging infrastructure in Delhi-NCR in the presence of officials from the state and Union government, as part of the recently launched Electric Vehicle policy," said a Delhi government statement.

The first leg of the policy targets installation of 200 charging stations in Delhi in the next one year, so that there is a charging station within every 3 km.

"Had a fruitful meeting today with Hon'ble Minister of Power @RajKSinghIndia and other stake holders. Heartfelt thanks & gratitude for your appreciation of Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy & support for successful implementation," Gahlot tweeted.

The Delhi EV Policy is being discussed worldwide now. It is the result of more than two years of hard work by the Delhi government in consultation with experts, Gahlot said.

"Singh has also assured to consider subsidies for 1,000 electric buses in the city. The Centre's support will act as a huge catalyst to the policy and motivate more people and organisations to switch to EV," the statement quoting Gahlot said.

The EV policy of Delhi government launched on August 7 by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal aims at having 5 lakh (25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations) electric vehicles in Delhi by 2024.

Along with providing category based incentives, it also aims to develop an effective network of charging stations and infrastructure throughout the city.

There are also provisions in the policy to encourage more private players to become partners in the initiative through setting up private charging stations/battery charging points, while ensuring there is enough competition so that the technology is affordable to the common man, the statement added.