The Delhi Cabinet on Monday approved the Electric Vehicle Policy with an aim to check vehicular pollution in the national Capital.

Under this policy, subsidy will be given to the vehicles for purchasing E-vehicles. It will also generate employment in the transportation sector. 

Under the EV Policy, the Delhi Government is providing a subsidy of Rs 5,000 per KW of battery capacity on the purchase of two-wheelers. Scrapping incentive up to Rs 5,000 will be offered for the scrapping of a non-electric two-wheeler vehicle and switching to an electric vehicle.

The first draft of the Delhi EV Policy was released in November 2018 last year and was put on the public domain to invite suggestions. "We received comments from various associations such as the United Nations Environment Program, International Council on Clean Transport, and industry bodies such as CII, and Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles and non-profit organisations such as CSE, etc. The comments were taken into purview and incorporated in the formulation of the policy," said the CM.

As per the officials, the biggest source of pollution in the National are vehicles which amount to 40 per cent of PM 2.5 air pollution levels and 80 per cent of carbon monoxide in the air.

Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2019 aims to induct electric vehicles which shall contribute to 25 per cent of the newly registered vehicles across Delhi.

"Along with reducing pollution levels in the city, the policy also aims to generate employment in the transport sector. The maximum emphasis is laid on two-wheelers, public transport and shared vehicles, and goods-carriers," said Kejriwal.

Currently, the percentage strength of electric two-wheelers in national capital is less than 0.2 per cent and three-wheelers is almost zero. With giving approval to the policy the government is aiming inductions of about 35,000 electric vehicles by next year. The Government is also working with the municipal corporations of Delhi to install and construct 250 e-charging stations across the city.

"We also hope that within the next five years, five lakh electric vehicles will be registered in Delhi. Over their lifetime, these electric vehicles are estimated to save approximately Rs 6,000 crores worth of oil and liquid natural gas consumption. They will also avoid emissions of 4.8 million tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions, which is equivalent to avoiding CO2 emissions from nearly one lakh petrol cars over their lifetime. They will also help avoid about 159 tonnes of PM 2.5 emissions," he added.

Besides, the Government has also made a special provision to for aggregator based cabs such as Ola and Uber, wherein they will be allowed to operate electric two-wheeler taxis. All two-wheelers engaged in last-mile deliveries, such as food delivery vehicles, courier services, and e-commerce logistics, will be expected to transition 50% of their fleet to electric by March 2023, and 100% of their fleet to electric by March 2025. Likewise, the purchase subsidy on electric autos, e-rickshaws, and e-carriers is up to Rs.30000 and loans on a subsidy of 5% will be provided to them.

The Chief Minister added that, "All leased/hired cars used for the commute of GNCTD officers will be transitioned to electric vehicles within a period of one year. The Delhi Government also aims to transition 50% of the newly purchased buses into electric buses by the year 2024 and 100 per cent by the year 2030. There will be no road tax on registration fees on electric vehicles."

Further, a special dedicated Electric Vehicle (EV) cell will be established within the Transport Department for the effective day-to-day implementation of the Delhi State EV Policy. Funding for the various incentives under Delhi EV Policy will be obtained from multiple sources such as Pollution/Diesel Cess, Road Tax, and Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) and so on, which will be monitored under the newly established 'State EV Fund'. A State EV Board will also be created as the apex body for the effective implementation and monitoring of Delhi EV Policy 2019, said the officials.

Meanwhile the Cabinet also approved transport allowances of Rs 4,000 per month for the regular employees of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Till now, the benefit was only availed by the employees of Transport Department.