Until June 30, customers can receive existing subsidies, including purchase incentives and 100 per cent road tax and registration fee waivers, on eligible electric vehicles. | Photo Credit: SHAILENDRA BHOJAK

With the current Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) policy scheduled to expire on June 30, and the proposed draft EV 2.0 policy expected soon, the auto industry has suggested a gradual promotion and continuity in demand incentive disbursement for sustained growth in EV two-wheelers (2Ws).

In the meantime, it has also cautioned that high demand of internal combustion engine (ICE) 2Ws cannot be ignored and banning BS6 compliant ICE 2Ws would cause customer distress.

Sources from the industry told businessline that the two-wheeler manufacturers were hopeful of a positive response from the Delhi government in the upcoming final EV poliy.

Recently, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) wrote to the Delhi Transport Minister, suggesting the policy be re-oriented towards phasing out old polluting vehicles, rather than restricting registration of clean, modern BS-VI two-wheelers.

“Older, pre-BS IV two-wheelers – vehicles over 10-15 years old – account for nearly 99.5 per cent of particulate matter (PM) emissions from the segment. The focus of the policy should therefore be on aggressive removal of these older vehicles,” it had said to the Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh.

The current Delhi EV Policy is scheduled to expire on June 30, 2026 and it is expected to be replaced by the updated Delhi EV Policy 2.0 (valid until March 31, 2030), which is pending Cabinet approval.

Until the June 30 expiration, customers can receive existing subsidies, including purchase incentives and 100 per cent road tax and registration fee waivers, on eligible electric vehicles.

The proposed draft EV Policy 2.0 is undergoing public consultations and is slated to bring strict mandates, including a proposed ban on new petrol two-wheelers by April 2028 and CNG three-wheelers by 2027.

While the industry has achieved significant milestones in domestic value addition and remains steadfast, certain vulnerabilities in the supply chain persist due to prevailing geopolitical dynamics, SIAM said.

Therefore, “considering these vulnerabilities and dependence on foreign powers, it is submitted that a mandate prohibiting ICE vehicles would be counterproductive, potentially undermining consumer welfare and broader economic stability,” it said.

high demand users

SIAM said for high-demand users such as delivery workers or long-distance commuters the current EV technology cannot match the price, range and load bearing of ICE engines. These specific use cases account for around 65 per cent of all two-wheeler sales in both Delhi and India, thus banning BS-VI compliant ICE 2Ws would cause customer distress.

On the Draft Delhi EV Policy 2026, while SIAM has welcomed the efforts of the government to drive greater EV penetration, but specifically with respect to the two-wheeler industry, it has requested reconsideration of Clause 8.2.1, which proposes that from April 1, 2028, only electric 2Ws shall be permitted for new registration in NCT of Delhi.

It said modern BS-VI two-wheelers (post April 2020) are fitted with electronic port fuel injection and three-way catalytic converters, and emit close to zero PM – which is what determines air quality index (AQI). Banning their registration will not materially improve Delhi’s air quality, it added.

According to SIAM, 2Ws contribute 7 per cent of PM2.5 emissions, well behind construction (30 per cent ), Industry (15 per cent) and commercial vehicles (15 per cent) . Within the 2Ws, share of population of vehicles on road from before BS-IV (i.e. BS-1, BS-II, BS-III) are around 61 per cent. BS-IV came into effect from April 1, 2016/17 and current regulation that is effective from April 1, 2020 is BS-VI which have practically zero PM emissions.

As per its data, there are around 46,40,250 BS-VI 2Ws running on the roads right now as compared to 1,13,93,320 units of BS-I to BS-IV 2Ws, in Delhi-NCR.

Published on June 21, 2026