'Commercial fleets should go fully electric in 4 years'

New Delhi: The 'Switch Delhi' campaign's focus has now shifted to commercial fleet vehicles with the State's Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot urging owners of two-wheelers, three-wheelers, cab aggregators, goods carriers and freight vehicle to adopt electric vehicles in the Capital.

The Delhi government has urged the fleet companies to plan a time-bound transition to electric vehicles.

"Fleet operators must show their commitment to the vision of green Delhi and making Delhi the EV capital of India by pledging to upgrade 50 per cent of the entire fleet to electric vehicles by 2023 and 100 per cent fleet by 2025," Gahlot said.

With the seventh week of the 'Switch Delhi' campaign kicking, its focus is on commercial vehicles which ply on the streets for majority of the day and therefore contribute significantly to vehicular pollution.

However, commercial vehicle owners have been facing difficulties in the transition and the government has stepped in to make the transition easier by reducing the rate of interest by introducing the interest subvention scheme of five per cent which will be offered through the Delhi Finance Corporation (DFC).

"This scheme is at the advanced stage of drafting and will be announced soon. This scheme can be availed by all range of vehicles and will ensure easy access of finance to fleet companies willing to upgrade their fleet to electric," he said.

All the categories of vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheeler freight vehicles, goods carriers, electric rickshaws, electric carts, electric-cars are eligible to avail financial incentives under the EV Policy.

"The fleet owners would not only take a step towards ensuring the better air quality in the national capital but can save money annually. A two-wheeler fleet owner can save up to Rs 22,000 annually by switching to electric," the Minister said.

Currently, there is a restriction on goods carriers to ply on the roads of Delhi during peak hours to avoid congestion but the state government has taken steps to allow electric good carriers to ply on the streets of Delhi during all hours.

"This was based on the feedback provided by the fleet companies and we are working on the roll out plan of this major decision. I'm sure this will encourage more and more companies to switch their fleet to electric," Gahlot said.

Switch Delhi is an eight-week mass awareness campaign by the Delhi government to sensitize every Delhiite about the benefits of switching to EVs to the environment as well as to make them aware of the incentives and infrastructure being developed under Delhi's EV policy. The campaign aims at informing, encouraging, and motivating each person in Delhi to switch from polluting vehicles to zero-emission electric vehicles.