Delhi govt. launches 'Switch Delhi' campaign, plans adoption of electric vehicles to fight air pollution

The Delhi administration has launched 'Switch Delhi', an electric vehicle mass awareness campaign, to sensitize citizens about the benefits of switching to electric vehicles. It was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The government launched the campaign to inform, encourage and motivate every person in Delhi to switch from polluting vehicles to zero-emission EVs. All the hired cars being engaged by various departments of the Delhi government will switch to EVs within six months.

The government has also rolled out incentives on the purchase of electric vehicles (EVs) from among all the states.

"Our vision is that by 2024, 25 per cent of new vehicles must be electric. Approximately Rs 30,000 subsidies are to be given for 2/3-wheelers while Rs 1.5 lakh for 4-wheelers. We are starting the 'Switch Delhi' campaign today to make people aware of clean vehicles," said Kejriwal in his video conference.

Appealing people to take part in the movement, the chief minister said, "We have to turn our EV adoption movement into a mass movement, a 'jan andolan', to form a collective commitment to decrease pollution."

The Chief Minister also said that the focus should be on the problem of air pollution which haunts the state and the health of its citizens.

 In an added benefit to citizens of Delhi, the Chief Minister informed that the state government has made road tax and registration fees for the EVs completely free. The policy has been created to promote the adoption of EVs on a large scale that cannot run on petrol. The government will also issue tenders to develop 100 public charging stations spread across the state.