EV adoption: Chandigarh slips to 4th position in March
Dushyant Singh Pundir
Chandigarh, April 19
In the absence of related infrastructure, the city has come down to fourth position in the country in the month of March in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
According to the evreayindia.org portal, after being the top city in EV adoption in the country continuously from September 2023 to January 2024, Chandigarh’s rank has started coming down. In February, the city was second after Goa in EV adoption.
Goa has topped the list with 26.82% with a total of 1,911 registrations. Delhi stands at second position with 10,836 registrations (19.9%). Tripura is number three with 19.2 per cent EV adoption and 1,216 registrations in March. Chandigarh slipped to fourth place with 621 registrations (18.6 per cent). The UT witnessed the registrations of 128 cars and SUVs in March, which is 9.21 per cent EV adoption, while 215 electric two-wheelers were registered with 14.06 per cent adoption.
The UT Administration had initiated a five-year EV Policy in September 2022 with the goal of gradually halting the registrations of fuel-run vehicles to promote a shift towards eco-friendly transportation.
On November 23 last year, UT Administrator Banwarilal Purohit revoked the capping on non-electric vehicle registrations, including two-wheelers, four-wheelers and commercial vehicles.
In November 2023, approximately 350 electric vehicles were registered within just 23 days. Yet, only 839 electric two-wheelers and 569 electric four-wheelers had been registered against 7,886 and 7,959 non-electric ones respectively from November 24 to March 31 this year.
Despite directions of the UT Administrator, 53 charging stations were yet to be made operational in the city. On March 8, Purohit had directed that all 53 charging stations be made operational by month-end, but it was likely to take one more month to complete the work after parts were stolen from a few units.
Owing to the implementation of the model code of conduct in the city for the Lok Sabha elections on June 1, the Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) has put the subsidy given on purchase of EVs on hold.
An official said those applying for EV subsidy would get it only after the completion of the election process. According to officials of Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST), the subsidy has been stopped due to the implementation of the poll code, although people can apply for it.
These documents are deposited with CREST after completing the documents of the vehicles and getting stamped by the Registration and Licensing Authority (RLA). As long as the code of conduct is in force, the file work of all applications seeking subsidy will be completed. After this, the subsidy amount will be transferred to the bank account of the people as soon as the election process is completed.
To promote electric vehicles, the Administration had made a provision of subsidy, under which about Rs 20 crore has been released so far. In the last two years, on an average, 150 electric two-wheelers and 70-80 vehicles are registered in Chandigarh every month. Chandigarh’s EV policy provides for category-wise subsidy depending on the capacity of the battery. There is a minimum subsidy from Rs 3,000 to Rs 2 lakh.
