It is learnt that nearly 20 per cent of the electric vehicles (EVs) sold in India during the month of December 2023 were in Delhi, mainly owing to its friendly policies with regard to electric vehicles.
Delhi has a policy on EVs, which lapsed on the last day of 2023, post multiple extensions. It is slated to be extended till March 31.
EV sales are all set to surpass their target in the Indian market. |
Delhi’s EV share in December, March and May
“Delhi saw 19.5 per cent of total EV sales in December 2023, the highest by any state in India. In numbers, during the year 2023, Delhi sold a total of 657,312 vehicles and around 73,000 of them were electric,” said Delhi’s transport minister.
According to him, during the year, EVs sold in Delhi comprised the second highest in March with a 14.7 per cent share, while the third highest was in May when sales comprised 14.4 per cent.
The minister added that, “Under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, we are committed to providing a cleaner and greener Delhi to all its citizens.”
Delhi EV policy to be upgraded
Delhi’s EV policy, rolled out in 2020, will have a modified 2.0 version soon — a more comprehensive policy, which will prompt people to migrate to electric cars, amid more incentives.
“In the 2.0 version, all existing incentives will continue. The new policy is in its final stages and will be rolled out in a few months,” the minister said.
The new EV policy will aim to increase Delhi’s share of electric vehicles to 25 per cent by the end of 2024.
Owing to the high pollution in Delhi during the winter months, also due to stubble burning in neighbouring Haryana and Punjab, the Kejriwal government had banned BS 3 petrol and BS 4 diesel vehicles twice within two months last year.
Higher share of electric vehicles could somewhat contribute towards relieving Delhi from the pollution woes. There are already a large number of electric buses and large and mid-sized commercial vehicles in the state, which are contributing towards zero pollution.
The Delhi EV Policy hopes to achieve the objective of boosting Delhi's air quality and paving the way for a complete supply-chain ecosystem for this new segment of vehicles.
E-Vroooom’s views
To offer maximum benefit to Delhi's air quality, the EV policy hopes to deploy 25 per cent of all new vehicles as battery-operated vehicles by 2024, but for it to be achievable, a major factor would be the prices, which must come down for this target to be near achievable.
Even as Delhi seems to be moving towards its target of highest EV sales in India after its December feat (due to its friendly policies), it would be essential for other states to follow suit for India to be a global hub for EV manufacturing, despite the current roadblocks like range and battery cost issues, which are still dogging the EV ecosystem in the country.
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