The Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh is soon to join the list of regions in India having their own EV policy. If new reports are to be believed, Chandigarh has even finished drafting the policy around electric vehicles and as per the draft, it will only register electric vehicles in the city after 2030.
The strong move by the union territory reflects on the rising air pollution in the region due to the 1.2 million plus vehicles plying on its roads. As a corrective measure, the city now plans to adopt electric mobility. It has already started taking steps towards it, with Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) having recently floated a tender on 40 electric buses and charging stations, as per an AutoCar report.
Apart from the efforts towards electrifying the public transport system in the region, the new draft policy mentions several benefits for EV buyers. In addition, it propagates the installation and use of electric charging stations. After the policies penned by Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and others, here is all that is mentioned in the policy around increasing EV adoption in Chandigarh:
(Representative Image: Reuters)
The new policy mentions several targets for the union territory with specific deadlines. As per them, the UT will have an all-electric government fleet by 2025, all-electric fleet of public buses by 2027 as well as all-electric rickshaws, corporate fleets, cabs and school buses / vans by 2030. The draft also mentions that Chandigarh will only register EVs in the city after 2030 and to empower these EVs, it will install 1,000 public EV chargers in the region by the same time.?
In order to increase the appeal of electric vehicles in the UT, Chandigarh will offer direct subsidy of Rs 20,000 for the first 3,000 buyers of electric two- and three- wheelers. Buyers will also get 100 percent exemption in road tax and registration charges up to 2024. The first 1,000 EV buyers in the city will even get free insurance for the vehicle for one year.?
The perks also include dedicated free parking slots with charging points in government-owned parking spaces, commercial buildings, educational institutions and RWAs. Any new public parking lot in the city will also be required to have 30 percent dedicated parking spaces for EVs.
In addition, subsidies on EV charging has also been mentioned in the draft. These include 30 percent subsidy on home charger installation as well as 15 percent subsidy for companies upon installing public charging stations.
(Representative Image: Reuters)
If the draft is followed as planned, Chandigarh will be making major infrastructural changes within the city to make it more EV friendly. Dedicated lanes, for instance, will be made for EV charging in every sector of the city. These lanes will lead to charging spots, which will also be made mandatory in all commercial buildings like shopping malls, hotels and technology parks. The idea is also amend the construction laws to instill these charging nodals from the planning stage itself.
All these efforts will be monitored by the Department of Transport, Chandigarh, which will also form a committee to come up with suggestions on appropriate implementation of these policies. As and when the policy is brought to effect, EV adoption in the region is sure to see a gigantic growth and will bring the electric vehicles at par with the IC engine ones.