First Read: Indian Autos "Lessons from the past: Hard targets, soft..."

Research evidence excerpt

First Read: Indian Autos "Lessons from the past: Hard targets, soft..."

Global Research

30 June 2026ab

First Read

EquitiesIndian Autos

Lessons from the past: Hard targets, soft India

outcomes? Automobiles

Pramod Kumar

Analyst

pramod.kumar@ubs.com

Delhi’s EV Policy, approved yesterday, represents one of the strongest policy pushes +91-22-6155 6063

towards electrification seen in recent years, with ~Rs150bn earmarked for the transition

Vedant Kshatriya

and also imposing restriction on ICE 2W and 3W registrations. The real test, however, Associate Analyst

lies in execution. We revisit three cases where governments sought to drive adoption vedant.kshatriya@ubs.com

through hard bans and assess the extent to which those efforts succeeded. +91-22-6155 6008

Case A: Delhi Diesel Vehicle Ban (2015-16)

In December 2015, the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) imposed

a ban on the registration of diesel-powered SUVs and cars with engine capacities

exceeding 2,000cc. There were also discussions around extending the ban to 11

additional cities, primarily metropolitan and Tier-1 markets. However, the proposal faced

strong opposition from automakers such as Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Toyota, and

Mercedes-Benz. Subsequently, the Supreme Court lifted the ban, and subject to the

condition that manufacturers or dealers deposit a 1% Environment Compensation

Charge, calculated on the vehicle’s ex-showroom price, into a designated state-run

bank account.

Case B: Lessons from Delhi’s earlier EV policy and Govt’s cab electrification push

The Delhi Government had initially targeted electric vehicles (EVs) to account for 25% of

all new vehicle registrations by 2024 coupled with numerous incentives under its 2020

EV policy; however, this target was subsequently deferred.