If you’re planning to buy a petrol scooter in Delhi, you have less than two years.
Delhi’s draft EV Policy 2026-30, released on April 11, proposes the most aggressive electrification timeline any Indian state has attempted — a petrol two-wheeler ban starting April 1, 2028. Only electric two-wheelers will be permitted for new registration in the capital. New petrol bikes and scooters? Done.
And two-wheelers aren’t even first. Electric three-wheelers become the only option for new registrations from 2027 — meaning the auto-rickshaw you hail next year could be the last new petrol one rolling off a Delhi RTO.
The Money Behind the Ban
Banning petrol vehicles is one thing. Making EVs affordable enough to replace them is another — and that’s where ₹3,954 crore comes in, part of a wider energy overhaul that includes a piped gas infrastructure push across the country.
The headline incentive: 100% road tax and registration fee waiver for electric cars priced under ₹30 lakh, valid until March 2030. Strong hybrids under the same cap get a 50% exemption. For electric two-wheelers under ₹2.25 lakh, subsidies start at ₹10,000 per kWh (capped at ₹30,000) in year one — but taper to ₹3,300 per kWh by year three. Early buyers get the biggest break.
There’s a quieter rule buried in the draft: if your household already owns two vehicles, any additional purchase must be electric.
What the Headlines Miss
This is still a draft. Public feedback runs until May 10, 2026 — the policy hasn’t cleared Cabinet and could change. The 2028 deadline applies only to new registrations; your existing petrol bike isn’t going anywhere.
The timing, though, says more than the text. On the same day Delhi released this draft, Karnataka ended its EV tax exemptions — making electric vehicles more expensive there. Two states, opposite bets, same day.
Delhi already registers EVs at nearly double the national rate — 14% of new vehicles versus 8% nationwide — with 9,000 charging stations on the ground — though India’s energy transition infrastructure isn’t ready for millions of EVs charging simultaneously. The two-year countdown for petrol bike buyers isn’t a warning. It’s a schedule.