New Delhi: The Delhi government on Friday launched the ambitious Electric Vehicle Policy which aims to boost Delhi’s economy, reduce pollution levels in the city, and generate employment in the transportation sector. While announcing the launch of the policy, CM Arvind Kejriwal said that this EV Policy will make Delhi a world leader in the field of electric vehicles and this is one of the most progressive EV policies in the world. CM said that pollution-free and sustainable development is at the heart of Delhi Model of development. The CM also announced various incentives for the people to promote the purchase of the electric vehicles in Delhi.
Addressing a digital conference on Friday, CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “After working hard in the last 2-3 years and holding discussions with consumers and experts, we have prepared the electric vehicle policy in Delhi. The policy has been notified today in the morning. China is being considered in the first position when discussions on electric vehicles are held across the world. It is believed that China has a really good system in place when it comes to electric vehicles. I am sure that when discussions on electric vehicles will be held across the world after five years, Delhi will be leading the way in this field. I am happy to say that this policy is not only the most progressive of its kind in the country but, it is also considered as one of the most progressive policies of all the electric policies across the world.”
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that there are two objectives behind launching the EV Policy. The Coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc in the economic systems of all nations across the world. He said, “In the last few days, the Delhi government has taken various measures to kickstart the economy of Delhi, we launched the Rozgaar website, we reduced the rates of diesel, we allowed street vendors to start operating and many other measures. Second, the EV policy will reduce pollution. In the last five years, the people of Delhi have collectively worked together to reduce pollution levels by 25%, but we have to reduce it further. During the pandemic, we saw that PM10 and PM2.5 levels witnessed a drastic reduction. We could see the clear skies and feel the clean breeze.”
“Now when we are opening the economy, and moving towards a normal life, we do not need a kind of development where there is only and only pollution. Let us come together and build a Delhi of the future, which is a Delhi with clean air, where we can breathe clean and there is no pollution, which is sustainable, and this EV Policy will work in the same direction of reducing pollution levels, boost the economy of Delhi, and create jobs for the people,” he added.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “We have held several discussions on the policy in the last 2.5 years. This policy has not been created by any officer or a politician in their air-conditioned cabins. You all are witnesses to this, we have held consultations, we called experts from all across the country, we studied the electric vehicle policies of the nations from all over the globe, and we took out all the good points from the policies and used it in the creation of our policy. But there may be some lags in the policy as nothing is perfect. This policy shows the intent of the Delhi government, that we want to go in a better direction. Right now, this policy is for three years, after which it will be reviewed. If required, we will reframe and change this policy from time to time.”
While talking about the specific milestones of the policy, CM Arvind Kejriwal said that the aim of the Delhi government is that electric vehicles shall contribute to 25% of the newly registered vehicles across Delhi by the year 2024. “Today, this percentage is only 0.2%, and we want to take it to 25%,” said the CM.
Apart from this, jobs will be created at a huge level in the field of driving, servicing, financing, charging, etc, new kinds of jobs will be created. He said, “If we have to promote electric vehicles, electric vehicles are quite costly today. The vehicles which emit pollutants are cheaper than electric vehicles, and because of their non-affordability, they are not purchased by the people and hence not promoted. The Delhi government will be giving financial incentives so that more and more people purchase electric vehicles.
Under the EV Policy, the Delhi government is providing a subsidy up to Rs 30,000 on the purchase of two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, e-rickshaws, freight vehicles each, and Rs 1.5 lakh incentives on cars. There is a scheme named as FAME India Phase 2 scheme of the Central government, where major incentives and subsidies are available. The incentives announced by the Delhi govt are in addition to the incentives by the central government. The Delhi govt is also providing scrapping incentives. “Many people have polluting vehicles at their homes, which are petrol and diesel vehicles. In this case, the old vehicle can be exchanged while purchasing the new vehicle so that it reduces the cost of the new vehicle further. This scrapping incentive is being given for the first time in the entire country,” said CM Arvind Kejriwal.
To purchase an electric commercial vehicle, the government will also offer loans to the people on low-interest rates. The registration fees and he road tax on the newly-registered vehicles will be waived off. There are two types of electric vehicles, one which runs on fixed charging and the second in which there is a need for battery swapping. The incentives will be available on all kinds of electric vehicles.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said that one of the many reasons why people do not purchase electric vehicles is that petrol vehicles can be refilled from a nearby petrol pump, but there is no such facility for electric vehicles if it runs out of power. “If you are driving an electric vehicle and the charging gets over, where will you go? Keeping this in mind, a huge network of charging stations will be created in Delhi, and our target is to create 200 charging stations in the next one year in Delhi. Our aim is to create a charging station every 3 km,” he added.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal also said that this is a new technology and a new skill-set, which is why the Delhi govt aims to provide training to young professionals so that they are able to land more and more jobs in the field of EV.
A State EV fund is also being set-up in Delhi, which will encompass all the expenditure of the EV Policy. A State Electric Vehicle Board will be constituted for effective implementation of the EV policy, and the chairman of the board will be Hon’ble Transport Minister Shri Kailash Gehlot. A dedicated EV Cell will also be constituted.
CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal said, “We hope that at least 5 lakh electric vehicles in Delhi will be registered in the next five years. The Delhi model of development is being widely discussed across the world. The Delhi model of development created good schools and hospitals, 24-hour free electricity, and the Delhi Model has also been successful in controlling Corona to a great extent. In the coming days, the Electric Vehicle Model of Delhi will also be widely recognized and discussed. I am sure that after five years, whenever the electric vehicle model is discussed, Delhi will lead the way. I want to thank our Hon’ble Transport Minister Shri Kailash Gehlot Ji, who has worked very hard in the last 2.5 years along with our officials and members of the DDC, to make this comprehensive policy, and I hope that people will be hugely benefitted through this policy.
