Taxing petrol won’t electrify Delhi roads |
Delhi’s latest electric vehicle proposal makes one thing clear: when policymakers run out of ideas to make cleaner technology attractive, they reach for taxes. The Delhi government is considering extending its green cess to petrol and CNG vehicles, on top of higher diesel levies, explicitly to make conventional cars more expensive and electric vehicles seem relatively cheaper. That is not climate leadership.
It is fiscal coercion dressed up as environmental policy. The premise is simple: make conventional vehicles more expensive and consumers will switch. But that assumes EV adoption is being delayed by attitude, not access. For many buyers, petrol and CNG vehicles remain the rational choice because they are cheaper upfront, easier to refuel, and more reliable for daily use, advantages that taxes do nothing to erase. Delhi already offers some of India’s most generous EV incentives: zero road tax, waived registration fees, and purchase subsidies of Rs 5,000 per kilowatt-hour.
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Yet electric vehicles still account for only about 12 -14 per cent of new........