The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), which operates and manages the airport in the national capital, has deployed 57 Electric Vehicles (EVs).

The EVs have been deployed as part of the Green Transportation Program that DIAL announced during World Environment Day in June this year.

With this, the Delhi Airport has become the first in the country to deploy EVs.

Officials said that the measure will help in reducing approximately 1,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

As part of the Green Transportation Program, DIAL has initiated the adoption of EVs and drive out all diesel and petrol-run vehicles in a phased manner.

In the first phase, DIAL has placed an order for 64 EVs for its airside and landside operations. Of these, 57 have already been deployed while the remaining seven are expected soon.

Of these 57 EVs, 21 are being deployed on the airside and would be used by Airside operations, Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting and AGL teams, while the remaining 36 would be used by various DIAL departments which include Environment, Horticulture, and cargo, etc. on the landside.

The Green Transportation programme, launched in June 2022, aims at enabling DIAL the swift transition to green mobility, thereby significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and enabling Delhi Airport to become a “Net Zero Carbon Emission Airport” (NZCEA) by 2030.

For the smooth adoption of electric mobility at the airport ecosystem, DIAL has also set up 12 charging stations with 22 charging points across the airport to facilitate EV charging of passengers, employees and cab service providers.

In addition to the newly introduced EVs, DIAL has also facilitated the use of electric buses for the transportation of passengers between Terminal 3 and the Passenger Transport Centre (PTC) building.

These buses currently ferry passengers on a regular interval of 20 minutes between these two locations.

“Ensuring sustainable development through environmental protection is one of the key focus areas of DIAL. DIAL has committed to becoming a ‘Net Zero Carbon Emission Airport by 2030’. The deployment of electric vehicles for managing airport operations is a first-of-its-kind initiative by any Indian airport,” said Videh Jaipuriar, CEO of DIAL.

It is a step forward to achieving the self-set goal. When packaged with appropriate ground support technology and infrastructure, electric mobility presents a viable alternative for reducing vehicular emissions at the airport. We have also set up EV charging stations and plan to add more such stations in a phased manner to support the growing need.”