With the interest around electric mobility growing in India, many states are preparing to adopt mass- scale electric mobility, with some wanting to take a lead. The Union Territory (UT) of Chandigarh is one such region. The administration has prepared a draft EV policy, which has been seen by our sister publication Autocar Professional. With this, Chandigarh becomes the latest entrant in the list of states in the country who have either come out or have a draft EV policy, the others being Maharashtra, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bihar, among others.
Chandigarh, which has the highest density of vehicles in India with around 1.2 million vehicles, is facing the challenge of their emission impact on air quality.
The city is proposed to become a smart city under the Smart Cities Mission of the Ministry of Urban Development, and has already taken some steps to adopt electric mobility. The Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) has floated a tender for 40 electric buses and charging stations. The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has fixed Rs 4 per unit and Rs 100 as a fixed monthly charge on electricity bill for the charging stations.
Chandigarh wants to become “one of the world’s leading clean vehicle cities” and also promote “R&D, innovation and skill development in (the) EV sector.” Towards achieving these objectives, the UT proposes the following:
- Only EVs to be registered in the city after 2030.
- To have all-electric fleet of public buses by 2027.
- To have all-electric government fleet by 2025.
- To have all-electric rickshaws, corporate fleets, cabs and school buses / vans on road by 2030.
- To install 1,000 public EV chargers by 2030.
Incentives for EV buyers
- Direct subsidy (only for first 3,000 buyers) of Rs 20,000 for buyers of electric two- and three- wheelers.
- 100 percent exemption in road tax and registration charges up to 2024 will be given on EV purchases.
- Free insurance (for first 1,000 EV buyers in the city) for one year.
- Dedicated free parking slots reserved for EVs in all government-owned parking spaces. In addition, all commercial buildings, education institutions and RWAs will be required to have reserved parking space for EVs with charging facilities.
- 30 percent dedicated parking spaces for EVs in new public parking lots in the city.
Incentives and assistance for EV charging
- The Joint Electricity Regulatory Commission (JERC) has already fixed Rs 4 per unit and Rs 100 as a fixed monthly charge on electricity bill for EV charging stations.
- 30 percent subsidy on installation of home chargers
- 15 percent subsidy for charging infrastructure companies, who wish to install charging stations at public places.
- The UT administration will build dedicated lanes for EV charging in every sector of the city.
- Provision for charging spots will be made mandatory in all commercial buildings such as hotels, shopping malls and technology parks.
- Amendment to building and construction laws will be made to ensure charging infrastructure is integrated at the planning stage itself for all new constructions.
The Department of Transport, Chandigarh, will be the nodal department for the implementation of Chandigarh EV Policy. An EV Steering committee will also be constituted under the chairmanship of adviser to the Administrator, Chandigarh to suggest measures for the implementation of the policy.
The committee will look into measures to support the acceleration of EV uptake in Chandigarh; make a stakeholder group for procurement of EVs for government use; ensure that systems for charging and payment are as accessible and user-friendly as possible; propose a number of places on streets in the city where charging points for electric vehicles can be located without major disruption to road-users, street cleaning and waste collection services; and study best practices all around the world for deployment of EVs.
Rivan RS 
Viraaj Bhatnagar
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
