Declaring itself a model electric vehicles (EV) city, the Chandigarh administration Tuesday while notifying the EV policy stated that within two years from now, they will entirely stop the registrations of petrol-based two wheelers. In a similar move, registration of personal fuel based cars will be reduced to 50 per cent, four years from now, UT administration said. The administration rolled out the five-year policy to the public, stating that minimum achievable targets have been set aside for each year. The policy was approved by UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit Tuesday.
The administration said they have approved the policy to make UT a ‘Model EV City’ with highest zero emission vehicles (ZEV) among Indian cities, in five years. The policy comes into force with immediate effect.
While setting targets for each e-vehicle category every year, the UT administration also notified that all those buying electric vehicles from now on will not only get a subsidy of upto Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh, but also a waiver of road tax, during the policy period.
Targets set for five years
For the five-year period, a specific percentage has been set as mandatory for the number of e-vehicles to be registered.
For the year 2022, 35 per cent is the achievable target for two wheeler EV vehicles to be registered and once 65 per cent of fuel-based two-wheelers are registered, no further registrations of these vehicles would take place this year. The owner of the two-wheeler will then have to get it registered elsewhere but not in Chandigarh. The total vehicle target of the particular category would be the total number of vehicles registered in that category last year.
Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forests, while speaking to The Indian Express said, “For example, if 10,000 two-wheelers were registered last year, with the new EV policy now, this year, only 65 per cent of it (6,500 petrol two-wheelers) will be allowed to be registered in Chandigarh and rest 3,500 will be for the battery operated vehicles. Similarly if 10,000 personal cars were registered last year, only 90 per cent of the same would be allowed this year and fifty per cent of it (5,000) will be allowed in the fifth year, as 5,000 will be for battery operated cars”.
According to the policy, in 2022, the minimum achievable target is 35 per cent for e-two wheelers and e-three wheelers, 20 per cent for goods e-three wheelers and e-four wheelers. For personal e-cars the target this year is 10 per cent while for e-buses it is 40 per cent and for e-cars (commercial) it is 20 percent.
In the second year, 2023, the minimum achievable target of e-two wheelers and e-three wheelers is 70 per cent each while that of goods e-three wheelers and e-four wheelers is 40 per cent each. For e-cars, for personal use, the target increases to 20 per cent while for e-buses it increases to 50 per cent.
Similarly, in years 3, 4 and 5, the target for e-two wheelers and e-three wheelers that is passenger autos is 100 per cent. For personal e-cars it is 30, 40 and 50 per cent respectively for 2024, 2025 and 2026. For e-buses too, the target set is 100 per cent for fifth year, which means registrations of all fuel-based buses will be stopped.
E-vehicle purchasers to be incetivised
The Adviser informed that various incentive provisions has been made in the policy in order to encourage people to move towards e vehicle from the conventional vehicle in order to have lesser carbon foot print and make Chandigarh carbon neutral at the earliest. It was stated that the policy has the provision to incentivise the adoption of all vehicle categories over and above FAME-ll policy incentives provided by the Government of India and will be applicable for only those electric vehicles purchased and registered in UT.
“In addition to this, a special early bird incentive is also to be given to vehicles purchased and registered in the first year of the policy period,” UT Adviser Dharam Pal said. Pal, while elaborating the policy, stated that an e-bike runs 1 km in 19 paise. “This means that a commuter will be able to save funds as well apart from not consuming petrol or diesel,” he said.
E-vehicles come with a charger. To charge the vehicle at stations, the owner will have to pay a fee. Rs11 per unit is the charge for battery swapping including taxes. It takes upto 30 units to fully charge the vehicle. Slow charging takes about six to seven hours or overnight while fast charging takes upto 60 minutes. Nine stations have been set up as of now and 44 are being set up by a Delhi-based firm.
Source: indianexpress.com
