Automakers with large conventional vehicle portfolios could face tighter restrictions and growing policy pressure to shift towards electric vehicles, with the government indicating that the measures already being introduced in Delhi-NCR could be extended to other parts of the country.
Speaking at the 66th annual convention of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to the Prime Minister, said restrictions had already started in Delhi and the surrounding region and could be extended to other parts of the country.
“Restrictions have already begun in Delhi and the surrounding region. In other areas also they may start kicking in. So therefore we have to prepare for that,” he said.
Under the Delhi EV Policy 2026, new petrol and CNG-powered two-wheelers will be banned from registration starting April 1, 2028, while new petrol and CNG three-wheelers will stop registration earlier on January 1, 2027. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) last month also mandated a phased restriction on the registration of new petrol, diesel and CNG light goods vehicles (LGVs) across Delhi-NCR, setting the stage for a major shift towards electric vehicles in the region’s urban freight and last-mile delivery market.
Kapoor was also particularly clear about the direction of policy for passenger vehicles.
“On the four-wheeler side I can tell you that more and more restrictions will come,” Kapoor said.
The restrictions could impact automakers like Maruti, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Hero Motocorp, Honda, among others.
His remarks come as the government and states step up efforts to shift the road transport sector towards cleaner and more energy-efficient technologies. Kapoor said manufacturers would need to prepare for the changes rather than assume that conventional powertrains would continue to operate under the existing regulatory framework.
Energy Security Imperative
Kapoor said the shift towards electric mobility was also becoming more important from an energy-security perspective, particularly after the West Asia crisis.
“For India, this becomes all the more important because now with the West Asia crisis we realized that we have to be self-sufficient and to become self-sufficient in petroleum products is not easy for India because the kind of resources which are discovered so far, our requirement is much much more and it’s going to keep going up,” he said.
“So therefore, this change in the transport sector has to happen much faster,” he added.
Localising Critical Components
Beyond vehicle electrification, Kapoor called for greater focus on critical components and materials where India could face supply disruptions due to dependence on concentrated global sources.
“We have seen that one small component like we saw the rare earth magnets, just a small component of a country can hold us to ransom,” he said.
He said the industry and government should identify critical items where alternatives were concentrated in one country or region and work towards building manufacturing capacity in India.
At the same time, Kapoor said India should aim to move beyond being a manufacturing base and emerge as a centre for automotive technology, design, R&D and innovation.
“Our aim and our goal should be very clear. We should all have a goal which we all agree on. And that goal should be that India should lead in technology, in volumes, in exports and try to become self-sufficient,” he said.
“And at some point of time, we should be the country where the newest models are developed or latest technology is developed,” he added.