Delhi govt approves 3-month extension of EV policy, until EV Policy 2.0 is implemented

Delhi government approved an extension on Tuesday for its existing EV policy. With this move, the Delhi EV Policy, which is slated to be replaced with the Delhi EV Policy 2.0, has now received an extension for three months. The Delhi government has stated that the existing policy will remain in force till the time the new Delhi EV Policy 2.0 is implemented.

The decision to extend the existing EV policy was taken in a cabinet meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, PTI has reported. After the cabinet meeting, Delhi's Transport Minister Pankaj Singh clarified that there will be no ban on auto-rickshaws or any other category of vehicles. "There are many things the government wants to do for its residents, and we will incorporate those in the revised EV policy. However, I want to make it clear that there will be no ban on auto-rickshaws, nor is there any proposal to ban any category of vehicles. The current EV policy is expected to continue for approximately the next three to four months," he stated.

This move comes as the latest extension of the Delhi EV Policy, which has been extended multiple times previously. The Delhi EV Policy was launched in August 2020 as one of the key initiatives by the state government, aiming to tackle vehicular pollution and push the adoption of electric vehicles to 25 per cent by 2024. The initial three-year term ended in August 2024. However, the state government decided to extend it.

Now, the Delhi government is working on EV Policy 2.0, which aims to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles to reduce pollution. The Delhi EV Policy 2.0's draft proposes to cover mass categories such as two-wheelers, buses, three-wheelers, and goods carriers, with the aim of transitioning them to electric vehicles. The draft policy also outlines a series of incentives to boost EV adoption. Women riders may be offered a subsidy of up to ₹36,000 on the purchase of an electric two-wheeler. Similarly, to encourage the use of electric two-wheelers, the government may offer a purchase incentive of ₹10,000 per kilowatt-hour, capped at ₹30,000 per vehicle.

The Delhi EV Policy 2.0 also aims to generate up to 20,000 jobs during its implementation period and facilitate the establishment of battery collection centres along with a city-wide network of charging and swappable battery stations.

The policy, which will be notified after it receives Cabinet approval, seeks to improve Delhi's air quality by aggressively replacing a large number of fossil fuel-run vehicles.

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