New Delhi offers $1,060 scrap bonus to speed EV shift

New Delhi approved a cash scrap bonus of about $1,060 for owners who turn in cars bought before April 1, 2020 and replace them with an electric vehicle. The city government finalized the package on June 29 as part of a four-year plan worth 150 billion rupees, about $1.59 billion, and set it to take effect from July 1.

Buyers of battery EVs priced up to 3 million rupees will be exempt from road tax and registration fees, charges that typically add 4% to 10% to a vehicle’s price. Electric scooter and motorcycle buyers will also receive staged cash support, starting at 30,000 rupees in the first year and falling to 10,000 rupees by year three. Hybrids were left out.

The Delhi Transport Department’s draft policy says vehicular emissions account for 23% of the city’s winter air pollution, while two-wheelers make up about 67% of Delhi’s total vehicle stock. Winter smog traps pollution from crop burning, vehicle exhaust and construction dust. The policy also ties cleaner air to Article 21 of India’s Constitution, which it says supports a right to life and a pollution-free environment.

Delhi wants 32,000 EV charging points across the city, a major expansion from the more than 4,000 public and semi-public charging stations it had in early 2024. The capital was also on track for 18,000 EV points by 2025.

The draft policy, uploaded on April 11, 2026 and opened for 30 days of public comments, also tightens the rules on vehicle registrations. Only electric auto-rickshaws would be allowed for new registration from January 1, 2027, and only electric two-wheelers from April 1, 2028. New internal-combustion vehicles would also be blocked from taxi, light-commercial and delivery fleets.

Delhi’s earlier EV policy helped push the capital region to nearly 14% EV adoption by 2025, compared with 8% nationally, according to the draft.