Delhi govt announces common forum to discuss electric vehicle policy

The first virtual meeting under the forum is scheduled to be held on December 18, the government said in a statement.

The Delhi government on Friday announced the launch of an “EV forum”, a common platform for multiple stakeholders to hold discussions on the government’s electric vehicle (EV) policy.

The stakeholders would include e-vehicle manufacturers, fleet operators and charging point operators, the government said. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO (Representative Image))

The first virtual meeting under the forum is scheduled to be held on December 18, the government said in a statement.

“The focus of Delhi’s EV forum would be to enable engagement of a wide range of stakeholders in the EV ecosystem for successful implementation of the EV policy. Delhi EV Forum will be the first such forum in India for continuous dialogue and engagement of stakeholders in the implementation of EV policy. The first meeting will be held virtually on December 18,” Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson of the dialogue and development commission, which advises the Delhi government on policy matters, said.

The stakeholders would include e-vehicle manufacturers, fleet operators and charging point operators, the government said.

The statement said the focus of the discussions in the first meeting would be on-ground challenges on the deployment of EVs and charging infrastructure and identifying potential solutions, providing clarity related to concerns and questions regarding provisions of the policy, gaining commitments from private players to help achieve the EV and charging infrastructure targets defined in the policy.

The forum is supposed to organise quarterly meetings and workshops too.

“The forum may conduct additional meetings that focus on specific issues and subjects related to policy implementation. The discussions through the forum workshops will identify measures to establish Delhi as the EV capital of India,” said Shah.

For the initiative, RMI India, an independent think tank working in the clean energy transition sector, will support the Delhi government. “Delhi’s ambitious EV targets are a signal of its strong commitment to clean mobility. EV policy formulation has benefited from extensive stakeholder consultations. Delhi’s policy is being hailed as one of the strongest sub-national EV policies globally,” said Akshima Ghate of RMI India.

Delhi’s EV policy – notified on August 7 – aims at ensuring at least a 25% share of electric vehicles among all vehicles registered in the capital, by 2024 .

The objective of the policy is to combat air pollution in Delhi. In September, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had listed the EV policy in his action plan to tackle air pollution.