Overview
- Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi asked the Centre to revisit the 2020 National Electric Mobility Mission Plan to reflect changes over five years and to test implementation through a pilot in a metropolitan city such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai or Bengaluru.
- Attorney General R. Venkataramani said 13 ministries are deliberating on the policy and he will file a comprehensive report detailing steps taken and proposed measures.
- The court flagged charging infrastructure as a key bottleneck and suggested deploying chargers at existing petrol pumps and bus stations.
- The case stems from a 2019 PIL by CPIL, Common Cause and the SitaRam Jindal Foundation seeking measures including government EV procurement, consumer incentives, mandatory charging in buildings and a feebate system.
- The bench and the Attorney General noted that a full transition to electric vehicles is a major policy decision that must weigh affordability across population segments.