Days after the Delhi government rolled out its new electric vehicle policy, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in an interview with… Hindustan TimesHe said the policy aims to cater to a “large segment” of Delhi families who buy one car and keep it for years, while urging residents to avail its benefits “if they care about the city”. She also spoke about the government’s efforts to regularize thousands of illegal colonies, provide housing to millions, and address the challenge of encroachment. Edited excerpts:
How does the new electric car policy benefit pollution control? What are the expected results?
I feel the results will depend a lot on how quickly and how willing city residents are to switch to electric vehicles. As more people switch to electric vehicles, we will be able to see a clear difference in emissions levels in Delhi. The pollution problem has become a hard shell that seems impossible to break. The previous government did not do much to improve the situation, so it has become an urgent concern for us to take steps to address pollution.
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We’re told that about 23% of the city’s pollution is due to vehicle emissions. One year ago, when we came to power, we realized that we had to work on a comprehensive plan that included denser plantings, dust mitigation, and emissions control. So, we came up with this policy where we identified priority sectors. There are EV mandates and incentives for the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segments, because together they account for more than 46% of vehicle emissions. The beautiful thing about this policy is that it does not just include subsidies; It has mandates, de-incentives, infrastructure upgrades and battery recycling provisions. It is a well-thought-out policy with comprehensive solutions.
Mandates in the policy can also prompt people to register their cars elsewhere NCR Cities. Delhi will also lose revenue. So is politics really the solution?
Our priority is to improve the city’s air. We are, in fact, spending more $15,000 crore on this policy – out of the state’s total budget of Rs 15,000 crore $1 lakh crore – which itself speaks of our commitment to improving pollution levels. We offer significant subsidies and have also required that people who benefit from these subsidies cannot transfer ownership of the car for three years, to ensure that the environmental benefits continue. However, if people have to find alternatives, they will. No policy can guarantee 100% public participation, but we can motivate people and ensure targeted interventions in key sectors.
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If the city’s residents care about Delhi, they will benefit from this common man-centric policy and its benefits. There is still a large segment where families buy one car and keep it for years, and these families will see the benefit of this policy.
Provisions for hybrid vehicles that were in the initial draft have been removed. What is the reason behind this, since Uttar Pradesh and Haryana already provide tax exemptions on these vehicles?
There are two main reasons for keeping hybrids out of politics. First, we wanted to keep the policy focused on electric vehicles only, as hybrid vehicles switch to gasoline or other fuels after using electric power for a period of time. This will not have the environmental impact we expect.
Secondly, consider the huge investment of over $The Rs 15,000 crore that we had prepared in the policy, we had to ensure that it would be rolled out in phases. So, while we started with pure electric vehicles, we may consider adding hybrid vehicles in the next policy.
One loophole in the previous policy was that the charging infrastructure had not been adequately updated and many of the charging points that had been set up were now inoperable. While the policy sounds good on paper, what is the implementation strategy to ensure charging infrastructure emerges quickly and is maintained?
Charging infrastructure is the foundation of this policy. We have set aside $Only Rs 8,000 crore for development of charging infrastructure and e-waste plant. According to a report by DTL (Delhi Transco Ltd), there are around 9,000 charging points so far, and we will increase this number massively.
For this reason, we have shared the responsibility of increasing charging points with manufacturers, dealers, wireless charging agents and institutions, who will all set up charging points – at car dealerships, inside residential complexes and in commercial spaces where vehicles are parked en masse. Therefore, the government, OEMs and the private sector will contribute to the development of charging infrastructure.
I feel that this is also a new sector opening up that can provide employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. We also have new charging points coming up at all our bus depots and many other public places.
While the focus is on two-wheelers, three-wheelers and commercial vehicles, the adoption of EVs in cars is still very low and is mostly treated as a second car option for a family. Road tax credits were also in place earlier, but they did not prove to be a major incentive. So, what is the government’s strategy to increase the uptake of electric cars among car owners?
We have waived road tax and registration fees on all electric cars costing up to $30 lakh. In addition, we have offered a cancellation incentive of up to $1 lakh for cars, which is also a huge amount. We have also ensured that the support amount is transferred through DBT [direct benefit transfer] Within 60 days, which is another motivation.
People buy cars based on their usage patterns. Electric vehicles are ideal for those who drive mostly within the city. Those who have to travel to neighboring cities can sometimes rent vehicles. In fact, once people start using an electric car, they become very comfortable with it because it feels like they are driving for free. There is no gasoline to fill up, shipping costs are minimal and they are not bothered by fluctuating fuel prices.
Secondly, all the countries around us are now actively improving their EV infrastructure. Haryana is reviewing our EV policy, while UP and Rajasthan are also planning to expand EV infrastructure. When CNG was introduced, people had similar concerns, which were quickly addressed across the country.
Trespassing in public places is rampant in Delhi. From footpaths, parks and roads to public spaces, all segments of society are guilty of vandalizing public spaces. The Supreme Court also recently said that the right to walk is a fundamental right. HT is running a 15-part video series documenting the deplorable state of footpaths in Delhi. What mechanism is being put in place to ensure that the aggressors do not return and to improve the condition of the footpaths?
We are very serious about tackling such long-standing illegal encroachments and, in fact, have taken stringent action across the city, including my constituency, to remove such encroachments. But unfortunately, several sections raise questions about why we displace squatters. In order to take real action, people will have to give up their greed, and the media and society will have to stop questioning drastic measures that are being taken right.
These random unauthorized constructions have been cropping up over the years and have never been stopped due to vote bank politics. We are the first government to take real action and we hope that the other pillars of democracy will support us in this.
It announced that the 1,531 colonies would be organized on an “as is, where is” basis. However, we have witnessed several recent incidents involving narrow aisles, and nothing else Due to compliance with building codes and the absence of basic safety features, which affects firefighting and rescue operations. HT has done a four-part series on how these unauthorized colonies have evolved over the years into time bombs. How does the government plan to ensure that disasters like those seen in recent months do not occur in these places?
Delhi is more than 100 years old. None of these 1,500 unauthorized colonies suddenly appeared. Some developed during the previous 15-year government, others during the subsequent 11-year government. There are more than 700 Goji groups that have also developed in an unplanned way.
We cannot make hundreds of thousands of people homeless without providing an alternative. For them, we support them first by making them “licensed.” Once they start registering, they will be able to obtain loans against their properties and properly rebuild safer structures.
We are also, for the first time, providing a provision under which jhuggis that have emerged up to 2025 will be redeveloped into townships with the help of developers, with common areas, parks, charging points for e-rickshaws and dispensaries. Likewise, once the unauthorized colonies are regularised, they will also be redeveloped in phases with all necessary safety measures in place. We allocated $700 Crores last year and $800 crore this year to develop unauthorized colonies.
