Delhi Implements Landmark EV Policy to Curb Vehicle Emissions
India's capital, New Delhi, has taken a historic step to combat its severe air pollution by banning the registration of new petrol- and diesel-fueled scooters and rickshaws over the next two years. The new electric vehicle (EV) policy came into effect on July 1, 2026, aiming to accelerate the transition to clean transportation and reduce the city's hazardous air quality levels.
Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced the policy on Monday after Cabinet approval, describing it as a historic move to effectively control vehicle pollution. The policy, worth 150 billion rupees ($1.6 billion), will remain in force until March 31, 2030, with the goal of achieving at least 30 percent electrification of the city's vehicle fleet by March 2030.
Phased Ban on Petrol and Diesel Vehicles
Starting from 2027, the Delhi authorities will only issue new license plates to electric small trucks and three-wheelers. From 2028, only electric scooters and motorbikes will be registered, effectively halting the addition of new petrol-powered versions of these vehicles. This phased approach targets the most numerous polluting vehicles on Delhi's roads.
Residents are offered cash incentives ranging from 5,000 rupees ($53) to 100,000 rupees ($1,050) for scrapping old, polluting vehicles and replacing them with electric ones. The government has also pledged to establish more than 30,000 public charging points across the capital to support the EV infrastructure.
Air Pollution Crisis in Delhi
Home to 30 million people, Delhi struggles with some of the worst air pollution globally. In 2025, the city did not record a single clean air day, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) consistently exceeding 50—the threshold for good air quality. Levels above 300 are considered dangerous. Vehicle emissions account for about 23 percent of the city's pollution, according to the Commission for Air Quality Management. Scooters and rickshaws, which largely run on petrol and compressed fossil gas, make up more than two-thirds of the tens of millions of vehicles on Delhi's roads.
A study published in The Lancet Planetary Health last year linked approximately 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 to air pollution. The city has also experienced levels of cancer-causing PM2.5 microparticles exceeding 300 micrograms per cubic meter—20 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.
Expert Reactions and Expected Impact
Moushumi Mohanty, senior program manager on electric mobility at the Center for Science and Environment, praised the policy. "If this actually gets implemented, this is going to be brilliant. We're going to see real impact on the ground," she told Arab News. Mohanty expects emissions to "reduce dramatically" and visible changes within a few years, as the policy cuts pollution at the source by preventing new petrol vehicle registrations. "Give it a few years. We will, I think, reach a point where several other cities around the world have," she added.
The new EV policy represents a comprehensive effort to tackle Delhi's air pollution crisis, combining bans, incentives, and infrastructure expansion to promote electric mobility and improve public health.
