Chandigarh Administration to Register only Electric Vehicles after 2030

Chandigarh Administration to Register only Electric Vehicles after 2030: Due to a push towards the usage of EVs initiated by the central government, India has become a global hotspot for electric mobility as it has become one of the largest EV markets in the world.

Following the initiative, the Chandigarh Administration has drafted an electric vehicle policy as the city has the highest density of vehicles in India and thus, the high emission levels impact the air quality of the Union Territory. In the draft policy, the administration has included goals and incentives to promote the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

The Ministry of Urban Development is working upon to make Chandigarh a smart city and the Electric Vehicle policy is a part of the process. A tender has been recently passed by the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) for the use of electric buses in the city.

Some details about the draft include that after 2030, only electric vehicles will be registered in the city, and it will have an all-electric fleet of buses and government vehicles by 2027 and 2025 respectively. By 2030, the city will have all-electric rickshaws, corporate fleets, cabs and school buses/vans. The Chandigarh Administration is also planning to install 1,000 public EV chargers by 2030. The incentives and assistance that have been included in the policy for EV charging are:

• The JERC or Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission has fixed the charge of INR 4 for one unit whereas a fixed monthly charge of INR 100 will be taken on electric bill at the EV charging station.
• A subsidy of 30% has been proposed for the installation of home chargers and a subsidy of 15% will be given for charging infrastructure companies.

For the implementation of the EV Policy in Chandigarh, the UTI Transport Department will form an EV Steering committee whose responsibility will be to suggest the measures to implement the policy perfectly. The committee will be the nodal department to check the implementation of the policy.

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