India, July 6 -- Days after the Delhi government rolled out its new electric vehicle (EV) policy, chief minister Rekha Gupta, in an interview with Somya Lakhani and Snehil Sinha, said the policy is aimed at catering to a "huge segment" of Delhi families that buy one vehicle and keep it for years, while urging residents to avail of its benefits "if they care for the city". She also spoke about the government's efforts to regularise thousands of illegal colonies, provide housing for millions, and tackle the challenge of encroachment. Edited excerpts: I feel that the results will depend a lot on how quickly and to what extent the people of the city are willing to switch to EVs. As more people switch to EVs, we will be able to see a visible difference in emission levels in Delhi. The pollution problem had become like a hardened shell that seemed impossible to break. The previous government did little to improve the situation, so it became an urgent concern for us to take steps to tackle pollution. We were told that about 23% of the city's pollution is due to vehicular emissions. A year ago, when we came to power, we realised that we had to work on a 360-degree plan that included denser plantations, dust mitigation and controlling emissions. So, we came up with this policy where we have identified priority sectors. There are mandates and EV incentives for the two- and three-wheeler segments because together these account for over 46% of vehicular emissions. The beauty of this policy is that it does not just list subsidies; it has mandates, scrapping incentives, infrastructure upgrades and provisions for battery recycling. It is a well-thought-out policy with end-to-end solutions. Our priority is to improve the city's air. We are, in fact, spending over Rs.15,000 crore on this policy - from the state's total budget of Rs.1 lakh crore - which itself speaks of our commitment to improving pollution levels. We are providing substantial subsidies and have also stipulated that people who avail of these subsidies cannot transfer the vehicle for three years, to ensure that the environmental benefits continue. However, if people have to find alternatives, they will. No policy can guarantee 100% participation from the public, but we can motivate people and ensure targeted interventions in key segments. If the people of the city care for Delhi, they will take advantage of this common-man-centric policy and its benefits. There is still a huge segment where families buy one vehicle and keep it for years, and these families will see the benefit of this policy. There are two main reasons for keeping hybrids out of the policy. First, we wanted to keep the policy focused on EVs only, as hybrid vehicles switch to petrol or other fuels after using electric power for a while. This will not have the desired environmental impact that we are expecting. Secondly, considering the huge investment of over Rs.15,000 crore that we are making in the policy, we had to ensure a phased rollout. So, while we have started with pure EVs, we may consider adding hybrids in the next policy. Charging infrastructure is the basis of this policy. We have set aside Rs.8,000 crore solely for developing charging infrastructure and an e-waste plant. As per a report by DTL (Delhi Transco Ltd), there are around 9,000 charging points as of now, and we are going to increase that number extensively. For this, we have shared the responsibility of increasing charging points with manufacturers, dealers, RWAs and institutions, who will all set up charging points - at vehicle dealerships, within housing complexes and in commercial spaces where vehicles are parked en masse. So, the government, OEMs and the private sector will all contribute to developing charging infrastructure. I feel that this is also a new segment opening up that can provide employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. We also have new charging points coming up at all our bus depots and many other public places. We have waived road tax and registration fees on all EV cars costing up to Rs.30 lakh. Additionally, we have provided a scrapping incentive of up to Rs.1 lakh for cars, which is also a significant amount. We have also ensured that the subsidy amount is transferred through DBT [direct benefit transfer] within 60 days, which is another motivation. People buy cars based on their usage patterns. EVs are perfect for those who drive mostly within the city. Those who have to travel to neighbouring cities occasionally can rent vehicles. In fact, once people start using an EV, they become very comfortable with it because it feels like they are driving around for free. There is no petrol to be filled, charging costs are minimal and fluctuating fuel prices do not bother them. Secondly, all the states around us are now actively working on improving EV infrastructure. Haryana is reviewing our EV policy, while UP and Rajasthan are also planning to expand EV infrastructure. When CNG was introduced, people had similar concerns, which were quickly addressed across the country. We are very serious about dealing with such long-term illegal encroachments and, in fact, we have taken strict measures across the city, including in my own constituency, to remove such encroachments. Sadly, however, several sections then raise questions about why we are displacing squatters. For real action, people will have to forego their greed and the media and society will have to stop questioning strict action that is rightfully taken. These random unauthorised constructions have come up over years and were never stopped because of vote-bank politics. We are the first government that is taking real action and we hope that the other pillars of democracy will support us in this. Delhi is over 100 years old. None of these 1,500 unauthorised colonies has suddenly come up. Some developed during the previous 15-year government's tenure and some during the subsequent 11-year government. There are over 700 jhuggi clusters that have also developed in an unplanned manner. We cannot make these hundreds of thousands of people homeless without providing an alternative. For them, we are first supporting them by making them "authorised". Once they start getting registered, they will be able to take loans against their properties and properly reconstruct safer structures. We are also, for the first time, bringing in a provision under which jhuggis that came up till 2025 will be redeveloped as townships with the help of developers, with common areas, parks, charging points for e-rickshaws and dispensaries. Similarly, once the unauthorised colonies are regularised, these too will be redeveloped in phases with all necessary safety provisions. We allocated Rs.700 crore last year and Rs.800 crore this year for the development of unauthorised colonies....