Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on Tuesday made a strong pitch under the ongoing “Switch Delhi” campaign urging private vehicle owners to shift to electric vehicles (EV) instead of diesel or petrol vehicles. He was addressing a webinar organised by the Dialogue and Development Commission in association with WRI India for promoting electric private vehicles.

“The Switch Delhi pledge, available on ev.delhi.gov.in/pledge, has been launched to cement the commitment of Delhiites to be a part of the EV revolution in Delhi and make Delhi the EV capital of India. I encourage all Delhiites to take this pledge if you are going to switch over to an EV and/or install a charging point on your premises in the next three years. I have taken this pledge today and hope everyone will do the same,” Gahlot said.

He pointed out that more than 7000 new EVs have been registered in Delhi and a total subsidy of around Rs 13.5 crore on 210+ approved models have been disbursed so far.

Aimed at increasing engagement with the public and stakeholders to accelerate EV adoption in Delhi, the webinar saw the participation of over 100 EV enthusiasts who came in to listen to two discussions – one with experts from the industry on EV adoption in Delhi and the other on how youth can drive the EV movement in Delhi.

Moderated by Amit Bhatt, Director of Transport at WRI India, the discussion involved expert panelists including Dr OP Agarwal from WRI India, Abhishek Ranjan from BRPL, Akshima Ghate from RMI India among others.

Dr OP Agarwal said, “The EV policies introduced by other states seem more like an industrial policy to attract investments to the state. But the Delhi government’s EV policy has set an example to the country by providing huge subsidies and incentives to the people switching over to an EV and by involving them in this movement.”

The webinar was the first event in a series of similar virtual events organised under the Switch Delhi campaign. Switch Delhi is an eight-week mass awareness campaign launched by the Arvind Kejriwal- led Delhi government to sensitise Delhiites about the benefits of switching over to EVs.