Electric vehicles, EV infrastructure gets prominence in Delhi civic budget plan

Delhi's civic body New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) is putting electric mobility as one of its priorities while planning the upcoming budget. The civic body has said that it will stop purchase of petrol and diesel cars for its employees any more, and focus on electric vehicles and EV infrastructure instead in the next financial year.

Among the proposals announced by the NDMC for the Budget 2022-23, purchase of electric vehicles, setting up more than 100 EV charging points and tie up with renewable power providers are some of the prominent ones.

Dharmendra, chairman of NDMC, said in his budget speech on Friday, "NDMC continues to take lead in pollution mitigation measures and has resolved to stop purchase of petrol or diesel based passenger cars and will acquire electric cars in future, converting its existing fleet too in a phased manner. NDMC has already introduced more than 60 e-charging stations in its area and is augmenting by more than 100 in this year itself."

“A fleet of the e-scooter is planned to be deployed in this year complementing the smart bikes. Its cycle-in-city scheme is expected to put in place dedicated cycle tracks in facilitating office goers to cycle to work in a safe and enjoyable manner. To reduce the dust pollution, intensive tree washing is being continued," he added.

Delhi was one of the first state governments in India to come with its own comprehensive EV policy. Launched in August 2020, the policy exempted EV owners from paying road tax and registration fees. Delhi government had earlier set a target for EVs to account for 25 per cent of total vehicle sales in the national capital by 2024.

The sale of electric vehicles has seen a sharp rise in recent times in the Delhi NCR region. For the first time, EVs became the second most popular choice of mobility according to overall vehicle sals in the national capital.Between September and November last year, petrol vehicles registered 82,626 units in Delhi, while EVs recorded 9,540 units surpassing diesel and CNG vehicles.