NEW DELHI: The familiar green-yellow CNG autorickshaws may soon disappear from the city streets. Delhi govt is considering phasing out these three-wheelers powered by compressed natural gas and replacing them with electric ones under its new e-vehicle policy. There are around one lakh autos in the capital.
Sources in the state govt said that EV Policy 2.0, to be rolled out soon, would halt any CNG auto registration from Aug 15 and their permits would be substituted or re-issued with only for electric autos. An official pointed out that this provision was yet to be finalised.
The draft policy also suggested that no two-wheeler of any category running on petrol, CNG or diesel should be permitted after Aug 2026, but a transport official said such a provision would most likely not be considered in the final policy given the very high number of two-wheelers in the capital and the possibility, therefore, of a transport crisis.
“But ultimately, we have to introduce EVs in all public vehicle segments,” he explained.
Delhi govt extended the current EV policy by an additional 15 days following its expiration on March 31. This extension is expected to be the final one. Govt has also set other ambitious targets for either phasing out or curbing the use of petrol, CNG and diesel vehicles while promoting EVs. No diesel, petrol or CNG three-wheeler in the goods category will be registered from Aug 15.
The policy could also ask civic authorities like MCD, NDMC and DJB to transition their garbage collection vans to EVs in a phased manner and achieve a 100% electric fleet by Dec 2027.
Officials said the transport department had also got the International Council on Clean Transportation to conduct a study on the feasibility of converting govt trucks to e-vehicles to reduce pollution levels.
Similarly, Delhi Transport Corporation and the Cluster Scheme operated by Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System would procure only e-buses for intra-city use and BS VI buses for inter-state operations.
Two-wheelers maintained their market dominance last year too, with 4,48,767 sold units, accounting for more than half of the total vehicle sales in Delhi. Light motor vehicles – cars, jeeps, vans, hatchbacks, sedans and SUVs – sold 1,87,286 units, becoming the second most popular category in the city market.
Another proposal in the draft is to require all private car owners in the capital to purchase only e-vehicles for the third or subsequent car registered at the same residential address.
Last year, 7,11,093 vehicles were registered in Delhi, of which 5,13,488 were petrol, 24,740 CNG, 45,589 petrol/CNG, 12,285 diesel, 67,874 electric (battery-operated), 12,430 pure electric vehicles, with the rest using other fuels.
The current EV policy offers a range of incentives, including a 25% purchase subsidy (up to Rs 5,500) for e-cycles, Rs 30,000 for e-rickshaws and e-carts, Rs 5,000 per kWh of battery capacity (capped at Rs 30,000) for two-wheelers and Rs 30,000 for e-light commercial vehicles. An official said that the upcoming policy would prioritise the adoption of e-buses and cars while discouraging petrol, diesel, and CNG vehicles through disincentives.
