New Delhi: The expert committee constituted by Delhi-NCR's air quality body, Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), to recommend steps to reduce vehicular pollution, wants to impose annual mandates on all carmakers to sell electric vehicles (EVs) from the next financial year, failing which it will impose stiff penalties.
According to a presentation reviewed by Mint, the committee wants all carmakers to have one-fifth of their private four-wheeler sales to be electric vehicles in the Delhi-NCR region from the next financial year, which will progressively increase to 45%, 70%, and 100% in the following financial years. Moreover, the committee also wants all new four-wheeler taxis to be electric from 1 April 2027.
The plan is set to be presented to all carmakers at a meeting in the national capital on Friday, where members from Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Hyundai Motor, and others are expected to participate.
“OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) have to report total sales along with the percentage of zero tailpipe emission vehicles,” the presentation reads. “The annual sales target should be operationalized and monitored on a monthly basis. Unmet EV targets accrued over a month will attract suspension of further ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) vehicle sales for that OEM,” the proposal reads.
Moreover, the committee is proposing a credit-based system in which every zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) sold above the set target will result in a positive credit balance for the carmaker. Similarly, every zero-emission vehicle sold below the desired target will result in a negative credit in the carmaker's account, the presentation said. Each negative credit will attract a penalty of ₹10 lakh.
The committee defines ZEVs as battery-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles, which are currently not sold in the country.
Steep climb for industry
Dr Ashok Jhunjhunwala, professor at IIT Madras and chair of the expert committee, said in an emailed response to Mint that the committee has not yet made any announcement.
“We have not made any announcement about our work. Any announcement will come from CAQM,” he wrote. CAQM, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors PV, Mahindra and Mahindra, and Hyundai Motor India did not respond to emailed queries.
The panel’s recommendation, constituted by CAQM, comes as Delhi finalizes its electric-vehicle policy and after weeks of deteriorating air quality in the region. CAQM is a statutory body which was established in 2021 to manage air quality in the national capital region. It has the power to issue directives to regulatory bodies in the region to implement measures which can help reduce pollution.
The expert committee’s report will be submitted to the CAQM, which will then decide whether to proceed with the steps deemed necessary by its members.
Of the country's total passenger vehicle sales of 4.5 million in calendar year 2025, Delhi accounted for around 4%, or over 194,000 sales. These include both private vehicles as well as taxis. Of these, about 8% were electric vehicles, with 14,834 electric passenger vehicle sales, according to the government-run Vahan portal, which records retail registrations.
The target for taxis appears to be more stiff, with about 3,200 new taxi sales registered in 2025, of which about 17% were EVs. The committee wants all taxi sales from 1 April 2027 to be electric vehicles.
The top air quality regulator for the national capital region set up a 15-member expert committee in December to draft a strategy to accelerate the electric vehicle (EV) transition in Delhi and the NCR.
- A 20% electric vehicle sales mandate for private cars starting next financial year, rising to 100% within four years.
- A fine of ₹10 lakh per vehicle for missing targets, plus the threat of banning all internal combustion engine sales for non-compliant brands.
- A 100% electrification mandate for all new taxis in Delhi-NCR from 1 April 2027.
- Adoption of a Zero Emission Vehicle credit system similar to those used in California or China.
- Current EV penetration in Delhi is just 8% for private cars, making the 20% first-year jump a massive hurdle for legacy automakers.
Regulatory action
According to an office order dated 10 December, reviewed by Mint, the committee includes senior representatives from the ministry of road transport and highways, the ministry of heavy industries, testing agencies ICAT and Arai, and Niti Aayog. Experts from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and think tanks such as Teri and the International Council on Clean Transportation are also part of the group.
Domain experts were of the view that electrification policies, which are expected to improve air quality and possibly reduce carbon emissions, should be implementable and developed collaboratively across different arms of the government apparatus rather than in silos.
"The problem with making a road map full of steep immediate targets is that it appears as a knee-jerk reaction, even though the intent can be noble. Such a plan may face strong pushback from the industry. The resulting arguments and counterarguments can delay real on-ground action, and the outcome may be as bad as the status quo," said Shyamasis Das, fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, a New Delhi-based think tank.
Das, who heads the electric mobility division, said a better plan would be to set ambitious electrification targets for later years, for instance, 2030 onwards, and give the industry adequate preparation time.
"What may happen is some parts of the industry will use legal options, stalling the entire policy," he said.
He also said the building blocks for implementing such a zero-emission vehicle transition plan, such as government budgets, power distribution, charging infrastructure readiness, industry compliance capacity, and citizen participation, should be considered in tandem. These aspects should not be left as an afterthought.