E-bike registration down in past two years, sale of e-cars on rise since 2020

New electric two-wheeler registrations has declined in the city in the past two years while there is a steady rise in the registration of electric cars in the past six years.

In response to a question raised in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Winter Session about the growth in registration and sales of electric two-wheelers and electric cars, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Jairam Gadkari stated that only 12 electric two-wheelers were registered in Chandigarh in 2020 and the number exponentially increased to 2,141 in 2023. However, the following year witnessed a drop of 367 in the registration, as only 1,774 two-wheelers were registered in 2024. This year, 1,293 vehicles have been registered till November 27. According to the data presented by the minister, 197 electric two-wheelers were registered in 2021, and the number increased to 855 in 2022.

The minister stated that just 35 electric cars were registered in Chandigarh in 2020 and the number kept on increasing since then. As many as 61 cars were registered in 2021, 273 in 2022, and the number increased to four fold to 1,037 after the UT Administration rolled out the Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy in September 2022. The registration further increased to 1,403 in 2024 and 1,395 till November 27 this year.

To encourage people to switch to electric vehicles, direct incentive is being provided under the policy to those users who purchase new electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles from the UT and get it registered with the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA), Chandigarh. Under the policy, the UT Administration offered incentives ranging from Rs 3,000 to Rs 2 lakh for the first 42,000 buyers of e-vehicles of all categories during the policy period of five years.

The incentives given on the purchase of electric four-wheelers were discontinued after the quota of first 2,000 cars fixed in the policy exhausted in November last year.

On proposals made by the UT Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee, the UT Administration had in August enhanced the cap on the number of electric four-wheelers eligible for the incentives from 2,000 to 3,500 units. Residents who had purchased electric cars from November were also eligible to avail the financial benefit in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh.

It was also decided that buyers of electric two-wheelers would be eligible for insurance assistance of up to Rs 5,000 for the first year. The subsidy for electric two-wheelers was increased from Rs 5,000/kWh to Rs 10,000/kWh, subject to the maximum of Rs 30,000 per vehicle. Women buyers of electric two-wheelers got enhanced subsidy of Rs 12,500/kWh, capped at Rs 37,500 per vehicle. The incentive for electric bicycles was also increased from 25% of the cost (up to Rs 4,000) to 25% of the cost (up to Rs 6,000).