New Delhi, Feb 4 (FN Bureau) Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday launched the ‘Switch Delhi’ campaign aimed at creating awareness about the benefits of switching to electric vehicles (EVs). While launching the campaign, Mr Kejriwal said that Delhi has to turn its EV adoption movement into a mass movement, a ‘Jan Andolan’, to form a collective commitment to decrease pollution by purchasing EVs. The campaign focusses on informing, encouraging, and motivating each and every person in Delhi to switch from polluting vehicles to zero-emission electric vehicles. He also said the Delhi government has decided that all hired cars being engaged by various departments of the Delhi government will transition to EVs within the next six months. On the occasion of the launch, Mr Kejriwal said, ‘Over the last year, the people of Delhi have fought a courageous fight against Corona.
They overcame all odds to defeat three waves of Corona. While all the people of Delhi deserve credit for this, it shouldn’t take away our focus from the long-term challenges facing Delhi. One such challenge is air pollution. To address the vehicular pollution in Delhi, in August 2020, the Delhi government notified the landmark Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy. ‘It has been called the most progressive EV policy in India and among the best globally.
The policy was well-received because it sets an ambitious vision for Delhi to drastically reduce air pollution from vehicles and become one of the top cities of the world in terms of the adoption of EVs. Our vision is that by 2024, 25 per cent of all vehicles in Delhi should be electric vehicles. If we can achieve this, imagine how much pollution it will reduce.” Mr Kejriwal said, ‘Recognising this urgency, Delhi government has rolled out the highest incentives on the purchase of EVs among all Indian states. Incentives on EVs range from a maximum of Rs 30,000 for 2 and 3-wheelers and up to Rs 1,50,000 on the purchase of 4-wheelers. This subsidy is received directly in your bank account within 3 days of the purchase. We have made road tax and registration fees also completely free on EVs. The policy has been created to promote the adoption of EV on a large scale. Since EVs cannot run on petrol, we are issuing tenders to develop 100 public charging stations spread across the length and breadth of Delhi.’