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Relevance: GS Paper II — Govt Policies; GS Paper III — Environment & Pollution Source: Delhi Government / news reports, June-July 2026

1 · What happened

The Delhi government has approved EV Policy 2.0, which will run from 1 July 2026 to 31 March 2030. This is a massive push to clean the city’s air, backed by a budget of about ₹7,000 crore.

The government is moving from encouraging electric vehicles to enforcing them. Delhi is now the first major state to set a hard deadline to stop registering new petrol and CNG two-wheelers. Soon, if you want a new scooter or auto-rickshaw in Delhi, it will have to be electric.

2 · The Phased Ban: How it will happen

Rather than banning everything overnight, the government has set a step-by-step timeline, starting with commercial vehicles and moving to personal ones.

Step 1 · 1 July 2026
Policy Kicks Off
EV Policy 2.0 officially replaces the older 2020 policy. The new strict rules begin.

Step 2 · 1 January 2027
Commercial Vehicles Go Electric
No new petrol or CNG auto-rickshaws or small goods carriers will be registered. All new registrations in these categories must be EVs.

Step 3 · 1 April 2028
Two-Wheelers Go Electric
The biggest change. Delhi will completely stop registering new petrol and CNG two-wheelers. Only electric two-wheelers will be allowed.

Step 4 · By 31 March 2030
School Buses and Charging
By this date, 30% of all school buses must be electric. The city also aims to have over 30,000 charging points installed.

  • Incentives for Buyers: To help people transition, the government is offering subsidies directly to bank accounts (DBT). For two-wheelers, the subsidy is up to ₹30,000 in Year 1, dropping to ₹20,000 in Year 2, and ₹10,000 in Year 3. EVs also get a 100% waiver on road tax and registration fees. (Note: Hybrid cars get zero benefits under this policy).
  • Scrap your old vehicle: You can get a bonus (from ₹10,000 for a bike up to ₹1 lakh for an old BS-IV car) if you scrap your old polluting vehicle and buy an EV.
  • Why Two-Wheelers? Two-wheelers make up about 66% of all vehicles in Delhi. Together with commercial vehicles, they cause the vast majority of the city’s vehicular pollution.
  • The Pushback: Delivery riders (gig workers) are worried about the high upfront cost of EVs. The auto industry (SIAM) argues that simply removing old, heavily polluting vehicles and using newer BS6 petrol bikes would be enough, rather than a total ban.

UPSC Prelims Quick Facts
N1 category Small goods-carrying vehicles (up to 3.5 tonnes), like delivery tempos.
EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) A rule stating the manufacturer is legally responsible for safely recycling the EV battery when it dies.
PM E-Drive The current Central Government scheme promoting EVs (it replaced the older FAME-II scheme in 2024).
Panchamrit India’s five big climate promises made at COP26, which includes reaching “net-zero” emissions by 2070.
DBT Direct Benefit Transfer. Sending subsidy money directly into a citizen’s bank account to avoid corruption.

MCQ Practice
Q. Consider the following statements regarding EV policies in India:

  1. Under Delhi’s new EV Policy 2.0, the registration of new petrol and CNG two-wheelers will be banned from 1 April 2028.
  2. In Delhi, strong hybrid cars receive the exact same road-tax waivers and subsidies as pure battery-electric vehicles.
  3. The FAME scheme was a national program designed to promote the manufacturing and adoption of electric and hybrid vehicles.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only    (b) 2 and 3 only    (c) 1 and 3 only    (d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (c) 1 and 3 only

  • Statement 1 is Correct: Delhi has set a firm deadline of 1 April 2028 to stop registering new petrol and CNG two-wheelers.
  • Statement 2 is Incorrect (UPSC Trap): The Delhi government explicitly excluded hybrid vehicles from these benefits. Only pure battery-electric vehicles (EVs) get the waivers and subsidies.
  • Statement 3 is Correct: FAME was indeed the national scheme that helped kickstart India’s EV adoption (now replaced by PM E-Drive).
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