The government of New Delhi, India's capital city, on Monday approved an electric vehicle policy aimed at combating air pollution that is projected to lower demand for transportation fuels, both oil and gas, in coming years if implemented successfully.
The Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy 2019 comes shortly after the city was engulfed by heavy pollution that shut schools and affected everyday life, and at a time when India's car sales have been falling due to a slowing economy.
The main goal of the EV policy, which was drafted in 2018 and circulated for public consultation, is to improve Delhi's air quality and lower transportation sector emissions, according to a summary document from Delhi's transport ministry.
The policy will aim to make battery electric vehicles or BEVs comprise 25% of all new vehicle registrations by 2024, the ministry said in the document, adding that the focus will be on electric two-wheelers, shared transport like three-wheelers and buses, and goods and freight carriers.
It said currently electric two-wheelers constitute only 0.2% of annual two-wheeler sales, electric cars contribute 0.1% of total car sales and sales of electric three-wheelers are close to zero.
Within a year, the Delhi government is targeting the introduction of 35,000 electric vehicles (two-, three- and four-wheelers and buses), 1000 electric vehicles for last mile delivery and 250 public charging stations, under the new policy, and expects 5,000,000 new EV registrations in the next five years.
"Over their lifetime, the EVs are expected to avoid around Rupees 6,000 crores ($843 million) in oil and liquefied natural gas imports and 4.8 million tons of CO2 emissions, which is equivalent to avoiding CO2 emissions from nearly 1 lakh petrol cars over their lifetime," the ministry said in the summary document.
The EV policy includes higher subsidies for vehicles and charging stations, lower interest rates for EV purchases, deadlines for the compulsory shift to EVs for government departments and the waiving of road taxes for EVs.
All two-wheelers engaged in last-mile deliveries will be expected to switch 50% of their fleet to electric by March 2023 and 100% by March 2025.
India's oil demand in November rose 10.5% year on year to 18.77 million mt, or an average 4.91 million b/d, on higher diesel and gasoline sales, preliminary data showed. Diesel demand rose 8.8% over the same period, and gasoline rose 9.2%.
Delhi is the world's second-most populous city, with its population expected to reach 36.1 million by 2030 from 25 million in 2014, United Nations data showed. It is second only to Tokyo, where the population is projected to fall to 37.2 million by 2030 from 37.8 million in 2014, according to the UN.
