As the price of petrol and diesel touches new highs, Delhiites can explore using alternate sources of energy. In an initiative to promote environment-friendly battery-operated vehicles, the Delhi government will be offering a 30% subsidy on their purchase.
The
subsidy will come from the diesel cess levied about
three months earlier — it has already earned Rs 10
crore for the government.
"Delhi has about 5.4 million vehicles of which 30%
are diesel-operated. We are trying to motivate consumers
to switch to the environment-friendly option, not only
in the four-wheeler segment but also in the two and
three-wheeler one," says environment secretary J K
Dadoo. "This would be specially beneficial for
those families that own more than one vehicle," he
said. The government may be focusing on diesel but this
is also a good alternative for those who own vehicles
running on petrol.
The government’s decision was probably spurred by the
fact that Delhi has recorded extremely high levels of
suspended particulate matter and respirable suspended
particulate matter. But for Delhiites, a stronger
incentive for moving to battery-operated vehicles is the
high price of fuel.
"Battery operated cars,
for instance, can be charged at a cost of 50p/km. They
are clutchless, gearless, noiseless and completely
pollution free," said Dadoo.
However, there are very few manufacturers of
battery-operated vehicles in India.
Reva is the only company manufacturing four-wheelers.
The company is set to open its showroom in Delhi
shortly. Those who purchase the vehicle for use in Delhi
will get a refund on the 12.5% VAT. Those only
registering the vehicle in the Capital will get a refund
of 2%. Meanwhile, all dealers
will get a 15% subsidy on the base price of each
vehicle. So, for someone buying the Rs 3.5 lakh model
for use in Delhi, the almost 30% rebate would mean the
car would cost about Rs 2.3 lakh.
For the government, with the department of renewable
energy giving them an additional subsidy of Rs 75,000
per vehicle, they would be even cheaper. Dadoo claimed
the government had enough resources for 1,000 vehicles
immediately. "We have managed to collect Rs 10
crore in three months from the diesel cess which we can
use. The fund will keep getting replenished," he
said.
