Delhi Extends Electric Vehicle Policy Till March 31, Restarts Subsidy On EV Purchase

Delhi chief minister Atishi today (November 28) announced extension of the Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy until March 31, 2025, a decision that was taken in a cabinet meeting.

At a press conference, Atishi said that due to poor air quality, the Delhi cabinet has decided to extend the EV policy and implement subsidies and road tax exemptions that have been pending from January 1.

“For the past 10 months, no subsidies or road tax exemptions have been offered for electric vehicles (EVs). However, starting from January 1, 2024, buyers of EVs will be eligible for subsidies,” she said. 

“Additionally, no road tax will be levied on EV purchases going forward. The EV policy has been extended until March 31, 2025,” the CM added. 

Notably, the Delhi EV policy targets 25% of all new vehicle registrations to be of EVs in the state by 2024.

According to the CM, in FY24, “12% of total registered vehicles in the region were EVs—the highest in the country and double the national average of 6%.”

The development comes at a time when the Centre is planning to roll out the third iteration of the Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme soon. 

In September, union minister for heavy industries HD Kumaraswamy said that the much-awaited FAME-III scheme will be rolled out within two months.

Notably, the Delhi government had withdrawn a waiver of road tax on electric cars and two-wheelers earlier in September this year, which has reportedly hit electric vehicle (EV) sales in the national capital.

Meanwhile, the electric two-wheeler registrations in India shot up by almost 73% month-on-month (MoM) to cross 1.2 Lakh units in October this year on the back of festive season sales discounts. 

As per Vahan data as of October 30, two-wheeler EV sales were the highest during the month since March this year when the numbers touched 1.4 Lakh units ahead of the end of the Centre’s FAME-II scheme.