New in the New Year: Big push to Metro, DTC revamp and new EV policy on cards in 2026

In this regard, the government has approved three non-priority corridors of Delhi Metro Phase IV – Lajpat Nagar to Saket, Inderlok to

Indraprastha, and Rithala to Kundli. It has also claimed to have started clearing pending liabilities of up to Rs 2,700 crore owed by the previous AAP government to Delhi Metro for phases I, II and III. Besides, work into the three priority corridors of Phase IV – Majlis Park to Maujpur, Janakpuri West to RK Ashram Marg, and Delhi Aerocity to Tughlaqabad — comprising 44 stations, is set to be completed next year. The Namo Bharat Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor is also expected to become fully operational in 2026. While it comes to public bus transport, the government has started work on reforming the city’s public bus carrier, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which will continue in the new year. It is set to take over operations of the cluster-bus operator Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), a move the government says will improve efficiency and accountability.

The department has also initiated a long-pending exercise to rationalise bus routes considering current travel patterns, aiming to reduce overlap of multiple routes, serve underserved areas and improve integration with Metro, RRTS and railway stations.
Moreover, with low-floor CNG buses – introduced ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games – being phased out, Delhi is set to shift towards electric buses next year.

Transport Minister Pankaj Singh has said Delhi’s public bus fleet is expected to cross 7,000 electric buses by the end of next year. The new buses, as per the government, will be more reliable, as older ones were increasingly prone to breakdowns.
However, even this expanded fleet will fall short of earlier judicial mandates — 10,000 buses ordered by the Supreme Court in 1998 and 11,000 directed by the Delhi High Court in 2007.

Another major focus will be the revamped EV policy, which is expected to be implemented in April 2026. The current policy, introduced by the previous AAP government in 2020, expired in 2023 and has since been extended multiple times, even by the BJP government.

A Group of Ministers led by Power Minister Ashish Sood is drafting the policy, which is expected to include purchase subsidies, a framework for expanding charging infrastructure, and systems for recycling EV batteries.

At a public event, Gupta has indicated a tougher stance on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, saying that “buying vehicles of other kinds will be made difficult”, signalling possible disincentives for petrol, diesel and CNG vehicles.
Further, the government has acknowledged the role of unregulated e-rickshaws in worsening congestion in the city. In the absence of other options, e-rickshaws have become a vital and affordable option for first- and last-mile connectivity. Gupta has said the government will soon issue comprehensive new guidelines to regulate their operational areas and routes.