Recent Current Affairs related to EV

Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has approved the operational guidelines for the 'PARIVARTAN' (Programme for Accelerated Renewal and Incentivization of Vehicle Assets for Reducing Transport Air Pollution and Network Emissions) scheme.

The scheme aims to replace old, highly polluting trucks and buses operating in the National Capital Region (NCR) with Bharat Stage (BS)-VI-compliant vehicles or Electric Vehicles (EVs).

The Delhi Cabinet has approved the 'Delhi Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy 2026', effective from July 2026 to March 2030, with a financial outlay of 15,000 crore.

The policy offers a 100% road tax and registration fee waiver for electric cars up to 30 lakh, and a 50% exemption for strong hybrid models (up to 30 lakh). Luxury EVs priced above 30 lakh are excluded.

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) subsidies for electric 2-wheelers are 30,000 (1st year), 20,000 (2nd year), and 10,000 (3rd year), while electric 3-wheelers receive 50,000, 40,000, and 30,000 over three years.

N1 category goods trucks are eligible for an incentive of up to 1 lakh. Scrappage bonuses include 1 lakh for 4-wheelers, 50,000 for commercial trucks, 25,000 for 3-wheelers, and 10,000 for 2-wheelers. Commercial and school fleet operators are mandated to electrify 10% of their fleet within two years, 20% by the third year, and 30% by March 2030.

The government also aims to deploy over 30,000 charging stations. Additionally, the first 1,000 heavy-duty N2 electric trucks (3.5 to 12 tonnes) will receive a 10-year exemption from city peak hour 'No Entry' restrictions.

Maruti Suzuki India has partnered with 5 startups under the fifth cohort of the Maruti Suzuki Incubation Program (MSIP).

The selected startups are MiniMines, Easework AI, Sarvam AI, Siftly, and CodeMate AI. These startups will develop solutions focused on operational efficiency, customer experience, and recycling of end-of-life electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The MSIP is conducted in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bangalore.

Ashok Leyland and Switch Mobility have partnered with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as the first Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to offer discounts under the New Delhi-NCR vehicle replacement scheme.

The scheme, with an outlay of ₹9,585 crore, aims to replace over 2 lakh old commercial vehicles. Under this initiative, the companies are offering an 8% discount on the ex-showroom price of eligible new trucks and buses.

Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy has unveiled the Unified Bharat e Charge (UBC) platform, a national unified electric vehicle (EV) charging platform, during the ‘National Conference on Enabling Nationwide EV Charging Infrastructure’ held in Bengaluru.

The platform is being developed by Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) with technical support from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). He also approved the installation of 1,243 EV charging stations in Karnataka with a financial outlay of ₹123.26 crore.

Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd (HSCL), the largest producer of speciality carbon black in India, has commissioned the first anode material production facility of the country at Mahistikry in the Hooghly district of West Bengal.

The facility has an initial operational capacity of 200 Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA). This marks the entry of HSCL into the lithium-ion battery value chain to strengthen the domestic energy storage sector.

Rocklink India Pvt Ltd has inaugurated the first integrated lithium-ion battery and rare earth magnet recycling facility in India at Sikandrabad, Uttar Pradesh. The plant has a processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes per annum (TPA) for lithium-ion batteries, yielding an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 tonnes of black mass. The facility also processes rare earth magnets at a rate of 60 tonnes per month (TPM) and plans to implement a rare earth chloride unit with a capacity of 1,500 TPA by 2026.

The Maharashtra government has signed an MoU with the Vietnam based Vingroup to explore strategic investments across multiple sectors in the state. The proposed investment is worth $6.5 billion (₹54,000 crore) and will be executed over a period of 2 years.

The Gujarat government has signed an MoU with Allegiance International Company Ltd to establish an Indo-Taiwan Industrial Park in the Sanand-Dholera region.

The proposed industrial park will focus on high-technology sectors like semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, Electric Vehicles (EVs), robotics, and related supply chain infrastructure.