Only 7% of the 1,068 EVs that received govt subsidy were cars: Data
On August 7, the AAP government had notified the Delhi EV Policy 2020 — unveiled in December 2019 by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal — with an aim to reduce air pollution and to kick-start the economy by spurring demand.
Only 7% of the 1,068 electric vehicles that received subsidy under the Delhi government’s EV policy since August, were cars/four-wheelers, shows data with the transport department. Maximum among the vehicle categories listed to receive benefits under the policy were e-rickshaws (59%), according to the data.
On August 7, the AAP government had notified the Delhi EV Policy 2020 — unveiled in December 2019 by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal — with an aim to reduce air pollution and to kick-start the economy by spurring demand. The policy offers subsidies,and road tax and registration free waivers, for electric vehicles bought in the Capital.
Following the notification of the policy, the government on October 11 notified full waiver of road tax and registration fee for battery-operated vehicles. This benefit is in addition to a subsidy of Rs 10,000 per kWh which is being given to the first 1,000 e-cars or electric four wheelers, capped at Rs 1,50,000 per vehicle. For electric two-wheeler, auto-rickshaw, rickshaw and freight vehicles, the subsidy is Rs 5,000 per kWh of the battery capacity up to Rs 30,000 per vehicle.
Records show that since August, Delhi registered over 5,000 EVs. But, of these, only around 21% (1,068) vehicles got the incentives. Of the 1,068 EVs, as many as 625 (59%) new e-rickshaws were given subsidies under the EV policy — the highest among all vehicle categories. This was followed by electric two-wheelers, 233 of which received the benefits. Even electric-carts, which are e-rickshaws modified to carry light-weight goods, were more than e-cars (72), data till December 22 showed.
“The fact that electric two-wheelers comprise the second-highest share among the incentives disbursed to EVs so far shows that Delhi’s EV policy is on the right track. Delhi has over 7.3 million registered two-wheelers and they are also the ones that create a lot of air pollution which usually goes unnoticed. This segment of vehicle has been one of our main target areas to convert into battery-operated or electric mobility,” said transport minister Kailash Gahlot.
However, transport officials said the low demand for electric cars/four-wheelers is because of a lack of options in the market.
“There are very few e-car variants that are on offer in the market at an affordable price. Things may look up for the e-four-wheeler segment in 2021 and 2022 with automobile manufacturers like Tata and Hyundai planning to introduce electric hatchback variants,” said a senior transport official.
Officials who are handling the EV incentives said the government has received nearly 1,600 requests for subsidies so far of which nearly 180 were rejected, while around 280 requests are pending at various stages.
“The most common problem we are facing in disbursing the incentive amount is from the dealer’s end. Aadhaar of the vehicle owner is mandatory for the application to be processed. But, in addition to that and prevent corruption, we asked all dealers to also take and upload a cancelled cheque from each applicant to ensure the government’s incentive amount is being transferred to the genuine beneficiary. So many a times this is not being done correctly. This delays the process,” the official said.
While unveiling the policy in December 2019, Kejriwal had termed the policy a significant step towards ensuring cleaner air in the city. “Vehicles are the biggest source of pollution in the capital and amount to 40% of PM2.5 air pollution levels and 80% of carbon monoxide in the air. Over their lifetime, these EVs are estimated to save approximately Rs 6,000 crores worth of oil and liquid natural gas consumption,” he had said.
Source : hindustantimes
