OP-ED: 'How Delhi is Becoming a Lighthouse City for Electric Mobility in India'

India

Jan 20

Written By WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities

August 2020, the Delhi government launched the Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) Policy. The Policy, aimed at driving the transition to battery electric vehicles, sought that 25 per cent of the total new vehicle registrations by 2024 be electric. In Delhi, this number has risen sharply to 9 per cent for September-November quarter in 2021. Now, that’s an exponential rise, given that EV registration was around 1 per cent in 2019-20. In this News18 op-ed, Amit Bhatt, Executive Director, Integrated Transport, WRI India highlights three reasons how Delhi is becoming the EV capital of the country.

Innovation
Most state EV policies have focused on the 'supply side' approach, which encourages EV industries to manufacture in respective states. This is important because if the number of electric vehicles available in the market is less, their uptake would be impossible. However, the production of vehicles is also linked to their demand, which is where Delhi has innovated.
Collaboration
The manufacturing of electric vehicles employs a new technology altogether. EV adoption needs an ecosystem change which cannot be achieved by one agency or department alone. Various stakeholders must collaborate to achieve this transformation, and this is exactly what the Delhi government has done to operationalize the state'sEV policy.
Implementation
It is often said that India has excellent policies and programs, but their implementation is abysmal. The focus on 'implementation' is probably the biggest differentiator of Delhi's EV policy. The Delhi government has set up a "State EV Cell' under the transport department for helping with the implementation of the Delhi EV policy. The EV cell reports to the Transport Commissioner of Delhi and currently consists of officials from the transport department, Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (DTIDC) and independent consultants.

Read the full piece on News18.

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WRI

WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities

WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities is World Resources Institute’s program dedicated to shaping a future where cities work better for everyone. It enables more connected, compact and coordinated cities. The Center expands the transport and urban development expertise of the EMBARQ network to catalyze innovative solutions in other sectors, including air quality, water, buildings, land use and energy. It combines the research excellence of WRI with two decades of on-the-ground impact through a network of more than 320 experts working from Brazil, China, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Turkey and the United States to make cities around the world better places to live. More information at www.wrirosscities.org.

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