Green push: Delhi govt to hire only electric vehicles for official purposes

Sources said the government has not made purchase of EVs mandatory since they are costly, there is a lack of charging infrastructure, and is not mandatory under the ‘Delhi EV policy’.

Departments, bureaucrats and senior officials can purchase petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles as per the previous guidelines, with the net dealer prices (NDP) fixed at Rs 4.75 lakh.

The committee has, however, revised the guidelines for hired and leased cars, and has made it compulsory that all such vehicles used for commute of GNCTD officers should be electric.

Shifting to electric cars for official purpose is to set an example, and push the public to adopt e-vehicles and reduce vehicular pollution, an official said.

The revised guidelines state: “All leased/hired cars used for the commute of GNCTD officers shall be electric and department, grantee institutions/autonomous bodies will decide the type of (dry/wet-lease) of EVs at their own level, based on resources available with them.”

“The finance department’s approval is required in respect of number of electric vehicles to be hired for the first time, but not required for extension of existing contracts… or fresh hiring of the same number of vehicles in subsequent years after observing all formalities,” reads the office memorandum issued by Secretary (Finance) with the approval of Deputy CM’s office.

The committee has however exempt special category vehicles like ambulances, fire and enforcement vehicles falling from switching to electric.

It further said electric cars purchased/leased/hired should be GPS-enabled.

Asked if the high expense was the hindrance to making EVs mandatory for official purposes, Transport principal secretary cum commissioner Ashish Kundra said, “Cost is not an issue as the government gives incentives for purchasing electric cars, but if you buy a car, you will have to manage secondary expenses like maintenance, charging infrastructure, etc… So, it is not as if departments cannot buy e-cars. The transport department, the DPCC, GAD have purchased EVs, but we haven’t made it mandatory for all departments.”

He added, “We have started with hiring and leasing. As manufacturing of electric cars and supply chains progress, the government will also gradually make purchasing such cars mandatory in future.”