If you are a resident of Delhi and you own an old petrol or diesel car, you may be in for a pleasant surprise soon. The Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government is reportedly considering a proposal to promote the retrofitting of these ageing cars to convert them into electric vehicles.
According to various reports, the Delhi government is currently working on the draft Delhi EV Policy 2.0. The policy, which is expected to be rolled out in the next financial year, aims to boost electric vehicle adoption across the National Capital Region and may promote vehicle retrofitting as a step in that direction.
To incentivise people to convert their ageing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles, the government may disburse a cash subsidy of ₹50,000. This incentive will be for those who choose retrofitting over scrapping their old car.
However, the incentive is likely to be limited to the first 1,000 vehicles that apply under the scheme, which is expected to be rolled out in April. Also, this proposed scheme is specifically aimed at old petrol (15+ years) and diesel (10+ years) cars, which face mandatory deregistration or scrapping under the National Green Tribunal (NGT) rules.
The proposed scheme is expected to give many residents of Delhi the opportunity to keep driving their vehicles legally in the NCR as a “green” vehicle. Once in force, the scheme will save such owners the hassle of selling their car for scrap value, which is often negligible, or obtaining an NOC to sell it outside the NCR.
However, the subsidy part of the proposed retrofitting scheme will also come with a fastest-finger-first condition. That’s because Delhi has lakhs of old vehicles that could be eligible for this scheme.
The other factor to bear in mind is the cost of retrofitting. According to auto experts, retrofitting ICE vehicles to EVs could cost anywhere between ₹3–5 lakh. Therefore, a ₹50,000 subsidy will only act as a sweetener. However, the savings from not buying a new car immediately could outweigh the retrofitting cost concerns.
Now, this proposal comes at a time when the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government has given in-principle approval allowing privately registered electric vehicles to operate as taxis. Previously, you needed commercial number plates and specific permits to run your car on platforms such as Uber or Ola.
If the government goes ahead with both the moves, the owners of old vehicles will have the opportunity to retrofit their cars and then operate those as taxis.
