Existing Delhi EV Policy Extended, Govt Confirms No Ban For Two-Wheelers & Autorickshaws

The Delhi government has announced the extension of the Delhi EV Policy by a further three months. The policy that had initially expired on March 31, 2025, was extended by two weeks and was expected to be replaced by the Delhi EV Policy 2.0. The decision to extend the existing policy was taken by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Bharadwaj after a cabinet meeting. The most important takeaway is that the Transport Minister Pankaj Singh confirmed that there is no proposal to ban CNG autorickshaws and ICE two-wheelers in the Delhi EV Policy 2.0 as reported earlier.

The above news of banning petrol and CNG two-wheelers by August 15, 2026, had raised many eyebrows. One of the main reasons for banning ICE and CNG two-wheelers was the slow rate of EV adoption. The Delhi EV Policy had set itself a target of 25 per cent EV sales by 2024 and it currently stands between 13-14 per cent. The target of Delhi EV Policy 2.0 is to increase it to 95 per cent by 2027 to improve the air quality of the city.

Another significant provision in the draft policy targets private car ownership. Households that already own two or more cars will be restricted to purchasing only electric vehicles for any future additions. This measure is intended to limit the proliferation of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, particularly among high-consumption households. By mandating electric-only purchases for these segments, the policy could stimulate demand in the premium EV market—an area that, despite growing product availability, continues to face consumer hesitation over issues like range anxiety and charging infrastructure.

The earlier proposal for Delhi EV Policy 2.0 had also mentioned special subsidies for women riders for adopting EV two-wheelers. The draft had mentioned that women riders would receive a subsidy of ₹12,000 per kWh of battery capacity, up to a maximum of ₹36,000 per vehicle. The above-proposed subsidy is much higher than the current PM E-DRIVE subsidies and would have helped in faster adoption of EVs, whether or not the same is applied in the upcoming Delhi EV Policy 2.0 remains to be seen.

The above decision by the government to extend the EV Policy indicates that it wants to come up with a new policy which is well-accepted by the masses and also beneficial for them. On that note, the Delhi government is yet to disburse ₹48.36 crore in subsidies to EV owners.