Electric vehicles sales in Delhi more than India average: Gahlot

A total of 9,540 electric vehicles were sold in Delhi from September to November. Of this, 2,873 were sold in September, 3,275 were sold in October and 3,392 in November

Delhi is emerging as the “EV capital” of India with sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in the city six times higher than the rest of the country, city transport minister Kailash Gahlot said on Tuesday.

The Delhi government notified its EV Policy on August 7, 2020. Under the policy, the Delhi government has set a target for EVs to account for 25% of sales by 2024. (HT Photo)

“Delhi’s progressive EV policy has turned out to be a huge success. In the last quarter, EVs have surpassed the sales of CNG and diesel vehicles in Delhi. Between September and November 2021, EVs accounted for 9% of the vehicles sold in Delhi; while the national average is 1.6%. In the last quarter alone, 9,540 EVs were sold in Delhi,” he said.

The Delhi government notified its EV Policy on August 7, 2020. Under the policy, the Delhi government has set a target for EVs to account for 25% of sales by 2024. As part of the policy, Delhi also became the first state in the country to fully exempt road tax and registration fees for all new EVs registered in the city.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday tweeted, “I’m glad Delhi is emerging as the EV capital of India with a 9% share of EVs. Delhi is doing everything possible to reduce its contribution to pollution.”

So far, the Delhi government and the power distribution companies have facilitated setting up 201 charging stations with over 380 charging points across Delhi in the past two years --- the highest for any city in the country, Gahlot said.

“Another 600 public charging points are to be added by mid-2022. The Delhi government recently launched India’s first single window facility to install EV chargers faster (within seven days) and cheaper (under ₹2,500 for slow charger) than anywhere else in India,” he said.

A total of 9,540 electric vehicles were sold in Delhi from September to November. Of this, 2,873 were sold in September, 3,275 were sold in October and 3,392 in November. EVs have risen to the second position in automobile sales, after petrol vehicles (82,626 units sold), according to Delhi government data.

At the same time, EVs surpassed popular choices such as diesel and CNG-run vehicles by a significant margin. 7,820 CNG vehicles and 2,688 vehicles were sold between September and November. In the hybrid category, 3,918 petrol+CNG vehicles were sold, and 1,429 petrol + other hybrid variants were sold, the data showed.