Pure EVs over hybrids: How divergence of views in government led to change in draft plan

The tax break that was planned for strong hybrid vehicles did not ultimately make it to Delhi’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2026 because the government couldn’t reach a consensus on the choice between prioritising hybrids and pure EVs, sources said.

The draft policy published by the government in April had proposed a 50% waiver on road tax and registration fees for new strong hybrids priced up to Rs 30 lakh ex-showroom.

The price that buyers pay for a vehicle (on-road price) is generally 10-20% higher than the ex-showroom price – the result of road tax, insurance, and some additional charges for registration and FASTag.

The proposed incentive for strong hybrids remained a major sticking point, with a clear divergence of opinion over exempting strong hybrids from road tax, until the EV policy was finally cleared by the Delhi cabinet on Monday (June 29).

Sources said opinion was divided in the Delhi council of ministers. “After consulting several stakeholders and experts, the Transport Department wanted to keep the incentive to ensure that people at least switch to these vehicles which run on both battery and petrol,” a senior source said.

“However, some sections in the government itself were against this, and were in favour of promoting only pure EVs instead,” the source said.

This is the view that finally won the debate – while announcing the policy on Monday, the government said: “We decided to drop the incentive on strong hybrids as the [EV] policy is only about promoting pure EVs.”

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Hybrid cars – vehicles that are powered by both an internal combustion engine (usually petrol) and one or more electric motors – can be both ‘strong’ and ‘mild’ hybrids.

A strong (or ‘full’) hybrid vehicle combines a traditional internal combustion engine with a powerful electric motor and a larger battery, which enables it to run entirely on electric power at low speeds, and to switch automatically to the engine for higher speeds.

A mild hybrid, by contrast, has a smaller electric motor and battery, and cannot run on electricity alone. The electric motor in mild hybrids acts only to boost acceleration and smoothen stop-start systems.

Popular hybrids such as Toyota Hyryder and Suzuki Grand Vitara offer both strong and mild variants. Others such as Toyota Hycross and Camry, and Honda City, are available only as strong hybrids.

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Officials said the financial incentives for strong hybrids were proposed after the government researched policies in other states, and considered the views of a range of stakeholders. Several top institutes and consultants working to promote electric mobility, such as the IITs and the International Road Federation (IRF), had backed the government’s plan to incentivise strong hybrids.

“Uttar Pradesh allowed 100 per cent [road tax] exemption on strong hybrid vehicles for almost a year and a half, and both the government’s revenues and vehicle registrations increased during this period, even as Delhi lost out to UP in revenues,” an official had told The Indian Express last week. Noida and Ghaziabad are major markets in UP next door to Delhi.

Auto industry data show that before strong hybrids were exempt from road tax in UP in July 2024, an average of 538 such vehicles were registered in the state every month; this number increased by 175 per cent on average after the incentives were introduced. Also, the state’s monthly revenues under this head increased by 60% from an average Rs 29 crore per month to Rs 47 crore per month.

“In just one year, UP collected revenue of Rs 500 crore by incentivising strong hybrid vehicles,” the official said.

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The strongest argument for a pure EV push is tailpipe emissions at the point of use. Delhi’s pollution crisis is acute and immediate — and an EV produces zero tailpipe emissions, while a strong hybrid still burns petrol a meaningful share of the time, reverting to the engine at higher speeds, under hard acceleration, or once the battery is depleted.

It has also been argued that since Delhi’s policy goal is full electrification eventually, normalising hybrids runs the risk of promoting an intermediate technology that can end up delaying the transition, rather than building towards it.

Delhi’s inadequate EV-charging infrastructure – the city has fewer than 6,000 charging stations against a requirement of at least 30,000 – is often cited as the reason to have a strong hybrid ‘bridge’ in the transition.

But the experience of countries such as Norway shows that a pure-EV mandate can be used to force infrastructure to catch up to demand, rather than waiting for infrastructure to lead. Proponents of pure EV mandates often argue that allowing both strong hybrids and EVs to coexist leads to underinvestment in charging infrastructure.

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Amit Bhatt, managing director of the India chapter of the global nonprofit International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), said the decision to not offer purchase incentives for strong hybrids was a positive step that would enable direct policy support and investments towards a faster transition to zero-emission transport technologies.

However, other experts disagreed, mainly on grounds of practicality and convenience for citizens.

Vikas Nimesh, an assistant professor at IIT Delhi, said, “Pure EVs are the ultimate goal, but as an EV user in the city, I am well aware of the difficulties. Until such time as we have a minimum number of charging stations, the government should have given incentives on strong hybrids to at least encourage a gradual transition towards EVs.”

CUTS International, a public policy research and advocacy organisation, had told the government earlier, “…The (proposed) 50% road tax waiver recognizes the role of strong hybrids as an effective transition technology. Self-charging hybrids operate in electric mode for around 60% of urban driving and deliver about 25-35% reduction in CO2 emissions compared to conventional vehicles, offering immediate benefits without dependence on charging infrastructure.”

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The organisation pointed out that “in the absence of such incentives earlier, consumers were registering hybrid cars in neighbouring states such as Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, leading to an estimated annual revenue loss of Rs 400-500 crore for Delhi”.

While UP’s 100% road tax waiver for hybrids ended last year, Haryana has a scheme for a 25% road tax waiver for the first 2,500 hybrid vehicles along with subsidies until 2027. Before Delhi, Karnataka had proposed incentives for strong hybrids in its draft policy but had dropped the idea ultimately.