In June, the Delhi Cabinet had approved the State EV Policy under which registration of ICE two-wheelers will not be allowed from April 1, 2028
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The government on Thursday provided a clear policy direction for conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles.Speaking at the 66th Annual Convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) here, Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to the Prime Minister, said more restrictions, such as the upcoming ones in Delhi are in the offing, and that major changes were likely to be introduced on the taxation part as well across India.“On taxation front, there are certain issues to be sorted out because people keep meeting me about import of batteries and whether more manufacturing now is happening in India; can we put some restrictions there?” Kapoor said.He outlined the need to discuss and debate on how to put in certain measures so that the domestic industry on battery manufacturing takes off gradually.“On the four-wheeler side, I can tell you that more and more restrictions will come... therefore, please be prepared, and we need to push electric in a big way,” he told the auto industry.The Delhi policyIn June, the Delhi Cabinet approved the State EV Policy under which registration of ICE two-wheelers will not be allowed from April 1, 2028. Similarly, only electric three-wheelers (L5 - passenger and goods autos) and electric N1 (light commercial vehicles capable of carrying loads of up to 3.5 tonnes) goods carriers will be allowed from January 1, 2027.As per the policy guidelines, the Delhi government is offering subsidies for all these categories of vehicles.Bring down the costKapoor also observed that certain manufacturing costs may still be high, but the auto industry needs to think of ways and means to bring down the costs, so that the end product becomes cheaper. “Then we need to come up with some financing models or maybe some other methods, say battery swapping, or maybe charging has to come up along the highways,” he added.Meanwhile, Kamran Rizvi, Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI), said that the subsidies are going to end for EVs and companies need to be prepared for the challenge. “I can lay out some key challenges, which will happen in the next four or five years. The first thing will be that subsidies and government support will come to an end, and in fact, they have come to an end in some sectors,” Rizvi said.The electric three-wheeler segment in India currently accounts for half of the total sales in the segment, which is significantly higher than the target of 10 per cent by 2026, he noted. In about two to three years, it could be 75 per cent, and two-wheelers are not far behind as 7 per cent of the segment sold are in electric.Speaking at the plenary session, V Umashankar, Secretary, MoRTH, also said the industry and the government need to work together to face challenges, such as “options of the fuel mix or the power train mix”, in future.“Ten years back, the direction was known. It was common. It was just improvements, innovations, and efficiency... now, we are placed at a position where the fuel is also becoming an issue, and that issue will also need to be tackled with the same spirit of cooperation,” he said.From the industry’s side, Shenu Agarwal, the newly elected President of SIAM, said the industry should have a clarity on roadmaps for long-term regulations, instead of changes year-on-year.Published on September 3, 2026
