By : SHWETA BHANOT MEHROTRA
MUMBAI :
Delhi government on August 7th, 2020, announced its electric vehicle (EV) policy with the aim to boost economy, create new jobs, and control pollution in the national capital. The Delhi government expects 25% of the new vehicles registered by 2024 to be EVs as opposed to the 0.2% currently.
“With this EV policy, we have two purposes, one to give Delhi’s economy a boost and create job opportunities, and secondly, [to] further reduce pollution levels in the national capital. In the next five years, we hope to have five lakh EVs registered in Delhi,” said Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister of Delhi in a virtual press meet. Furthermore, he went on to say that the Delhi government is “hopeful and confident that the progressive EV policy would be the talk of the town, not just in India, but worldwide.”
As part of the EV policy, the Delhi government will be offering incentives on purchase of EVs. This includes a financial incentive of INR 1.5 Lakhs on EV cars, and INR 30,000 on two-wheelers, autorickshaws, e-ricks and freight vehicles each. “Currently, the EVs in the market are expensive for common man to make a purchase and we need to promote them. The Delhi government would be offering financial incentives across vehicles,” said the CM.
The state government has also floated scrappage incentive for consumers exchanging their old vehicle for new. “The scrappage incentive is the first of its kind in the country,” said CM Kejriwal.
In addition to this, the Delhi government will also be giving a waiver on the loan taken for the purchase of electric commercial vehicles. The road tax and registration fees will be waived off on the purchase of e-CVs. All these incentives by the Delhi government will be applicable across electric vehicles (EVs) both, on fixed charging, as well as on battery swapping technology. It is important to note that these incentives will be over and above the incentives offered by the central government under the FAME India Phase II scheme.
For seamless EV travel, the government plans to create EV charging station networks. It plans to have 200 charging stations in the first year with one in each 3 km radius in the city. About job opportunities, the government plans to provide training to the youth to be conversant with the new technology. “We see thousands of jobs will be created with this EV policy,” says the CM.
The Delhi government has set up a State Electric Vehicle Board that would be chaired by the Delhi’s transport and environment minister, Kailash Gahlot. It has also set up a dedicated Electric Vehicle Cell to implement the EV policy. State Electric Vehicle Fund has been created to take care of all the investments required to promote EVs. Currently, the EV policy is for three years and the government plans to review it at regular intervals during this tenure for any amendments, if required.
“During the [COVID-19] pandemic, the PM10 and PM2.5 levels have been significantly down and the air is clean. And now when we go back to normal life, we need to look at development without pollution. We should all come together to create Delhi of the Future – one that is sustainable with clean environment,” said CM Kejriwal.
