Delhi targets vehicle electrification as EVs reach 12.7% of new sales

The Associated Press reported on Tuesday 28 July 2026 that Delhi adopted a new policy on 1 July aiming to make the vast majority of newly registered vehicles electric by 2027. Existing petrol vehicles will not be banned, but their numbers are expected to dwindle in coming years. The policy targets two- and three-wheelers, which make up nearly 70% of the city's vehicles: from 2027, any newly registered three-wheeler or small truck must be electric, with two-wheelers following the year after.

At present only about 5% of the 8.7 million vehicles registered in Delhi are electric, although EV registrations passed 100,000 over the past year, most of them two- and three-wheelers. The plan is expected to cost the local government about 150 billion rupees ($1.5 billion) and offers cash incentives of up to 50,000 rupees ($522) for buying an EV and up to 100,000 rupees ($1,044) for scrapping an old petrol vehicle.

Ruchita Shah, an energy analyst at the think tank Ember, said electric vehicles accounted for about 12.7% of Delhi's new vehicle sales in the 2026 financial year, compared with 8.3% nationally. According to the report, vehicles cause about a quarter of air pollution in India's National Capital Region, and two- and three-wheelers are responsible for nearly half of vehicular pollution in the city.