The story so far: Building on the momentum gained from its 2020 EV policy, which led to Delhi achieving almost 14% EV penetration by 2025, when the national average over the same period was about 8%, the Delhi Government has proposed what is arguably one of the most ambitious transport electrification policies in the country.

The revised draft EV Policy, issued in early April and currently under stakeholder consultation, envisages a complete ban on the registration of new internal combustion engine (ICE) three-wheelers from January 1, 2027. While this might seem drastic, the likelihood of achieving this target is considerably more manageable given that the three-wheeler segment has already witnessed relatively high levels of electrification compared with other vehicle categories.

What appears to be the real game changer, however, is the proposed ban on new ICE two-wheeler registrations from April 1, 2028 — barely two years from now. The rationale behind this is straightforward: an overwhelming 67% of Delhi’s registered vehicle stock comprises two-wheelers, and if the national capital is to achieve cleaner air in the foreseeable future, this segment requires targeted attention to enable the transition. The draft policy cites estimates by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) that vehicular emissions contribute around 23% of Delhi’s winter air pollution, making transport electrification central to the city’s clean-air strategy.

With a similar approach to other polluting segments, the revised draft policy proposes electrification mandates for school buses — with a target of 30% electrification by 2030 — fleet aggregators such as cab-hailing platforms and delivery services, as well as government transport fleets. The rationale here is that while the number of vehicles in these segments is considerably smaller than private two-wheelers, their pollution burden is disproportionately higher because of their daily utilisation.

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Who is objecting? And why?

Industry bodies and stakeholders have objected to these mandates, though largely not in the public domain. Industry executives and people familiar with the stakeholder consultations say manufacturers represented by bodies such as the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) have expressed reservations about their ability to scale up production of electric variants within the proposed timelines. Their concerns stem not only from the possibility of losing market share, but also from the argument that the market is not yet ready to pivot to an all-electric paradigm, as economies of scale have not yet reduced EV prices sufficiently to compete with comparable ICE two-wheelers.

They also point to gaps in both public and private charging infrastructure. While there has been considerable progress in the former through charger deployment mandates, service delivery and reliability remain a concern, with breakdowns, theft of charging equipment and power outages reported at several locations. In fact, a 2024 study by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found that a 84% of the public charging stations it surveyed in Delhi were non-functional because of maintenance issues, theft and unreliable power supply. As for private charging, there has been persistent hesitation among Resident Welfare Associations and apartment complexes in permitting community charging stations, even though home charging is expected to account for the bulk of EV charging demand.

There are other issues as well. Stakeholders point to the lack of competitive financing, particularly for electric light commercial vehicles, quality after-sales service, and the decline in resale values of used EVs. Battery replacement costs and India’s continued dependence on imported battery technologies are also being flagged, particularly as much of the global EV battery supply chain — from cell manufacturing to processing of critical minerals — remains concentrated in China, with Indian manufacturers largely undertaking vehicle assembly.

Automobile manufacturers have therefore argued for a more market-led transition driven primarily by demand-side incentives, similar to the approach adopted under Delhi’s 2020 EV policy, and one that aligns more closely with Central government schemes such as PM E-DRIVE, which seeks to accelerate electrification of public transport and commercial vehicle fleets across the country.

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What are supporters of the revised EV policy saying?

Proponents, however, argue that regulation — much like the Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) norms that pushed manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency in conventional vehicles — must sometimes push the envelope in pursuit of a larger public good. In this case, they argue, the public good is Delhi’s clean air, and that the industry, left to market forces alone, may not achieve the pace of transition required.

Indeed, the express aim of both the 2020 policy and the revised draft is to address the contribution of road transport to Delhi’s hazardous winter air pollution.

Think tanks and critics have, however, also applied a social justice and labour lens, arguing that the policy must address the underbelly of the sector — the vast network of after-sales service providers built around ICE vehicles that will now have to pivot to a new technology. Many of these small businesses may be ill-equipped to make that transition within a short span of two years unless the State Government simultaneously mandates large-scale reskilling programmes, easier financing for small workshops and incentives to upgrade their equipment as part of the broader EV transition.

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Is India’s power grid ready for the impact?

There is another urgent issue that must be addressed in parallel if such a rapid scale-up is to succeed — the ability of Delhi’s electricity grid to handle peak-time charging loads and the substantial increase in power demand that widespread transport electrification will bring. Here, however, there is some reassurance. Studies by WRI India, CSTEP and other energy think tanks have suggested that if charging is managed through smart charging, time-of-day tariffs and staggered charging patterns, the additional electricity demand from EVs is unlikely to overwhelm Delhi’s grid in the near term. Instead, they argue that the larger challenge lies in strengthening local distribution infrastructure, particularly transformers and distribution feeders, rather than overall generation capacity.