EV policy 2.0 in the works, Delhi govt looking to extend existing one till March: Gahlot
Until August this year, Delhi saw 10.71% of EV sales. The total EV sales stood at 11.02% in 2023.
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Kailash Gahlot. (Express Photo)The Delhi government plans to extend its Electric Vehicle (EV) policy till March 2025 with Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, who took charge Tuesday, directing his department to prepare a proposal regarding the extension and submit the file before the Cabinet for approval.
With this, beneficiaries’ wait for the Delhi government’s subsidy and other perks such as exemption of road tax after the purchase of a new e-vehicle is likely to end soon.
“We have started work on the EV policy 2.0 and it will take about 2-3 months to prepare the final draft… I have also directed the Principal Secretary, Transport, to expedite the project. In the meantime, I have also directed the department to move a proposal for extension of the existing policy, so that the public does not face any difficulties,” said Gahlot.
“We have plans to extend the existing policy till March…Those who have applied for subsidies in the last six months will receive the amount and benefits…,” he added.
The policy — one of the AAP government’s flagship schemes — was launched in August 2020 to curb vehicular pollution and increase EVs nationally to 25% by 2024. The policy expired after three years in August 2023. The government extended it for six months till December. It was supposed to get another six-month extension till January until the EV policy 2.0 was to be finalised.
However, it has been in limbo for the past six months. “… the policy could not get approval due to several reasons like the Lok Sabha polls and pending cabinet approval as the then CM (Arvind Kejriwal) was in jail and he headed the Cabinet… Now, as the new CM (Atishi) is appointed, we are expecting a Cabinet meeting to be held in the coming week and the policy will get an extension,” said a senior official.
According to data shared by the Transport Department, 9% of the total vehicles registered in Delhi since 2020 was electric.
Between August 2020 and August 2024, Delhi saw a total of 2,20,618 e-vehicles sold/registered, including 2,14,805 battery-operated vehicles and 5,813 pure EVs.
Until August this year, Delhi saw 10.71% of EV sales. The total EV sales stood at 11.02% in 2023.
Further, the data shows that between January and August this year, 53,587 e-vehicles were sold and registered in Delhi. These include 595 buses, 15,626 e-rickshaws and e-rickshaw carts, 418 goods carriers, 1,760 cabs, 3,745 cars, 25,008 two-wheelers, 6,414 three-wheelers (including both passenger and goods), and 117 motorised cycles.
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