The Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDC), in partnership with World Resources Institute, India (WRI India), released the ‘Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Guidebook for Shopping Malls in Delhi’ on Friday to simplify and enable adoption of EV charging at shopping malls in Delhi.

Jasmine Shah, Chairman, DDC said, “Top malls in Delhi will  install EV charging points in 5% of their parking capacity in next 6 months, approx. 1,000 new charging points to be added in shopping malls in 6 months.” With this launch, Delhi has become the first State in the country to come up with a step-by-step guide to help shopping malls adopt charging of EVs in their parking space.

The guidebook was launched in the presence of Jasmine Shah, Vice-Chairperson, DDC Delhi,  Amit Bhatt, Executive Director (Integrated Transport), WRI India and representatives of various shopping malls/associations in Delhi.

 Shopping mall representatives welcomed Delhi Government’s initiative of promoting EVs and expressed their support to installing EV chargers in their malls for at least five per cent of their parking space in the next six months.

Providing EV charging facilities can benefit shopping malls through increased footfall, increased time spent by customers, improved visibility, boost to their ‘green’ image, improved customer loyalty and it can potentially be an additional revenue stream for the mall owners.

The released document guides shopping mall owners in understanding the importance of EV charging, assessing the scope for EV charging, details the processes involved for effective decision-making and sets out the way forward for the planning and implementation of EV charging stations in the parking of malls.

The Delhi Government announced the Delhi Electric Vehicle Policy in August 2020, with a vision to promote the adoption of electric vehicles in the city and to make Delhi the EV Capital of India.

The policy aims to improve Delhi’s air quality by driving the transition to electric vehicles, so that they can reach 25 per cent of all new vehicle registrations by 2024.

Shah said, “Every city in the world that has made a mass-scale jump towards e-mobility, did so at the back of strong charging infrastructure. Besides this, we need to ensure that every place that a vehicle stops at has a charging point — be it offices, residences or malls. Such a radical shift has been envisioned in Delhi Government’s EV Policy aimed at making Delhi the EV capital of India.”

Encouraging shopping mall owners to take advantage of the new opportunities created by the Delhi Government, Shah added, “Shopping malls are our partners in pushing the agenda for e-mobility and reduced pollution. In addition to incentives and the step-by-step guidebook launched today, Delhi Government will also provide hand-holding support through the state EV Cell to all malls that commit to achieving the target of installing EV chargers for five per cen of their parking slots in six months.”