Delhi’s draft EV policy gives car subsidies to the rich, puts more vehicles on the roads

The draft electric vehicle policy issued by the Delhi government on April 11 aims to promote electrification for vehicles through a mix of incentives, road-tax waivers and restrictions on new registrations of vehicles that use petrol and diesel.

However, the policy suffers from two fundamental limitations that require urgent reconsideration. First, the policy frames the measures as a solution to air pollution and, indirectly, as a justification for extending subsidies for switching to electric to even car users who are among the most affluent in the city.

Such a framing is myopic because it assumes that air pollution is the only effect of transport. Automobile use also hurts the health of residents through traffic injuries, reduced physical activity, traffic noise and by occupying scarce public space.

Beyond health, vehicle production contributes to carbon dioxide emissions, while battery manufacturing relies on minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, the extraction of which is the subject of serious environmental and social concerns globally.

By presenting electrification of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheeled goods vehicles and passenger cars primarily as an air pollution solution, the policy narrows the scope of what should be a much broader rethinking of urban mobility.

The more pertinent question is not simply how to reduce air pollution, but how to do...

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