Only seven out of every 1,000 vehicles registered in Chandigarh in last five years were EVs

Strap: Amid UT administration’s push through incentives including monetary benefits to early bird buyers, waiver on registration fee and road tax

Amid the UT administration’s push for electric vehicles (EV), the five-year records show that the number of the electric vehicles registered in the city was less than 1% of the total.

In reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha on the promotion of electric vehicles, minister of state for heavy industries Krishan Pal Gurjar said 5,549 electric vehicles — including 1,599 two-wheelers, 3,304 three-wheelers and 646 four-wheelers — had been registered in Chandigarh till March 9, of the 8,25,228 vehicles running on fossil fuel registered in the city so far. The same

According to the Union ministry of road and transport, in 2022, 50,901 vehicles were registered in Chandigarh in total. Of these, 2,718 were electric — accounting for a mere 5%.

The same comes in the backdrop of the administration looking to bring down the city’s carbon footprint and attain carbon neutrality.

The UT administration had notified its Electric Vehicle Policy on September 20 last year with the aim to make Chandigarh a “model EV city” by achieving one of the highest penetration of zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) among all Indian cities by the end of the policy period of five years.

Under the policy, direct incentive is being provided to those users who purchase new electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles from the UT and get it registered with the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA), Chandigarh.

According to the policy, the direct incentive will remain in operation for a policy period of five years or till the time the administration decides otherwise. New buyers who purchase a new electric car or hybrid vehicle between September 20, 2022, and September 19, 2027, will be eligible for direct incentive subject to the number of electric vehicles to be incentivised as per the policy. However, the direct incentive will not be applicable to the government sector.

An official said the incentives were being released to the beneficiary within 15 working days of acceptance of all documents, subject to availability of funds. A user will forfeit its entitlement for direct incentive if he does not submit a claim, complete in all respects, within three months from purchase of new electric/hybrid vehicle.

Apart from a complete waiver on registration fee and road tax, the UT has offered incentives in the range from ₹3,000 to ₹2 lakh for the first 42,000 buyers of e-vehicles of all categories during the policy period. Besides, a special early bird incentive of ₹2,000 is also given for purchase of e-bicycle and a minimum of ₹3,500/kWh up to ₹50,000 for other categories of the vehicles purchased and registered in the first year of the policy period.

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