Explained: Why Gurgaon is struggling to match Delhi’s 13% electric vehicle adoption rate

EV adoption in Delhi’s neighbouring cities (like Gurgaon) is crucial if the air quality of the National Capital Region has to be improved, said experts. “If we want to actually improve the air quality in Delhi and its surrounding regions, we have to think of not just state-level policies, but regional plans where other states complement Delhi’s actions,” said Shyamasis Das, senior fellow at Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), pointing that the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has the mandate to direct states to take such steps.

The Indian Express breaks down the main reasons why e-vehicles are yet to catch on in Gurgaon:

Questions on charging infrastructure

Several residents have complained that installing charging infrastructure in housing societies often runs into a wall.

Sunil Sareen, deputy convenor of the Dwarka Expressway Gurugram Development Association, said a majority of societies along the Expressway, and its residents, are in favour of EVs and associated infrastructure being available.

“But there needs to be a push from the government as well. We don’t have clarity on the role of Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) in the policy; because of this, some people are trying to stall adoption and block installations, in the name of fire and safety clearances,” he claimed.

Flat owners resisting EV charging points make up less than 1% of residents of the Dwarka Expressway sectors, Sareen claimed.

The fire department said it is not involved in approving or installing EV chargers anywhere, in residential premises or premises. “It is not needed for installation or at any stage, our department is not involved. Regardless of whether it is in the basement or ground floor or others,” said Gurgaon Fire Safety Officer Jai Narayan.

At Emaar Imperial Gardens in Sector 102, off Dwarka Expressway, efforts are on to scale up its EV adoption readiness. It currently has one private charging station, equipped with both fast and slow speeds.

The RWA’s general secretary, Krishna Madhav, said in the coming weeks, their multi-level car park will have at least 150 EV charging points against individual spaces.

“These will have (largely) individual pre-paid metres attached to them. They were installed on a no-profit basis at around Rs 10,000 each that residents readily paid. Still, there are some who tried to stop it by bombarding authorities with emails about needing fire clearances,” Madhav said.

He also stressed that there are no straight guidelines and incentives for parking spaces to have EV charging points. “There is no clarity as to whether we are eligible for subsidies. As of now, in the private charging point in the common area, it costs Rs 25 per unit for fast charging.”

To be sure, with regard to charging infrastructure, Haryana’s 2022 EV policy offers some subsidy on fixed capital (long-term durable assets) investments for charging stations.

It does this by providing a one-time subsidy covering 20% of the initial setup and equipment costs, capped at Rs 5 lakh, for the first 200 stations that spend over Rs 25 lakh.

Additionally, smaller charging stations established in residential complexes or commercial buildings are eligible for a similar 20% subsidy on setup costs, up to Rs 50,000 for the first 2,000 units.

It also directs the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) to mandatorily include provisions for charging stations in large societies, offices and malls.

Official speak

Delhi saw installation of 1,957 charging stations in the last five years under the central government’s EV schemes, while the number of charging stations installed in the entire state of Haryana stood at less than half at 919 stations.

The Indian Express spoke to officials on what measures are in place to boost EV adoption.

According to a spokesperson from the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, all EV connection applications are processed as a top priority. “If all paperwork is in order, the connection is put in place in seven days; it is the same for applications to increase the sanctioned load.”

“Moreover, to encourage EV adoption, we install the necessary transformers free of cost. In Southern Haryana districts, we have installed 360 EV charging points, and another 50 are in the pipeline. A lot of private players have been showing interest,” he added.

Municipal Corporation of Gurugram Executive Engineer Sandeep Dhundwal said on its part, the civic body has signed MOUs with PSUs to install 25 battery swapping and 20 EV charging stations.

“The MCG will provide the land while the rest will be financed by the companies. The policy does not specify the onus is on us but we are taking the lead for EVs in Gurgaon. By December, we hope to see most of the units in place. And then learning from that as a first phase, we hope to replicate it across the city so there is a charging point every 3-4 km. The land and sites are being finalised.”

Dhundwal also said objections to fears of fires will be addressed as and when formally received. “In the first phase, we will not be picking residential areas… the idea… is to develop in the style of parking spaces as people need a space to keep their car too while charging.”

Sunil Dahiya, founder of nonprofit Envirocatalysts, said, “Since Gurgaon has a dense corporate ecosystem, the government can work with them to set targets for large vehicle fleets.” He added that the government should focus on heavy polluters such as goods carriers and buses.

A look at Haryana’s policy

According to the policy, Gurgaon and Faridabad will be developed as model electric mobility cities, with phased targets to transition to electric mobility. The policy mandates a complete shift of all commercial passenger vehicles to electric vehicles, with an intention to phase out fossil fuel-based commercial vehicles in these two cities by 2030.

To increase the share of EVs on state roads, the policy offers purchase incentives for various categories of vehicles.

• For electric cars which have an ex-showroom price between Rs 15-40 lakh, the policy offers an incentive up to 15% (or Rs 6 lakh) for the first 1,000 vehicles.
• For electric cars priced between Rs 40-70 lakh, it offers incentives up to 15% (or Rs 10 lakh) for the first 1,000 cars purchased.
• It even offers some limited incentives for hybrid vehicles, hydrogen vehicles and electric tractors, as well as government electric buses.
• It doesn’t offer incentives for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers since the central government was offering incentives for these under its flagship FAME-II scheme.Importantly, it offers a complete exemption of Motor Vehicles Tax, which ranges between 5 and 10% of the ex-showroom cost, for the first 30,000 electric two-wheelers and the first 15,000 electric three-wheelers. A 75% exemption for electric and hydrogen fuel-based cars for the first 10,000 purchases is also provided.