Delhi EV cell faces setback as LG dismisses 5 specialist and employee

The Delhi government has stated that the departure of the EV Cell's CEO and five of its specialists on 3 July will likely to result in a setback for the special organisation created to implement the Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) policy.

The specialists including N Mohan, CEO of EV Cell, were among the 400 "specialists" fired by LG VK Saxena earlier this month from the Delhi government. The Delhi government hired 400 persons to work in its 22 ministries and agencies as fellows, consultants, senior research officials, and advisers. According to the LG office, the dismissed employees were working "non-transparently" and without the required authority authorization.

The Delhi government has stated that the departure of the EV Cell's CEO and five of its specialists on 3 July will likely result in a setback for the special organisation created to implement the Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) policy.

The specialists including N Mohan, CEO of EV Cell, were among the 400 "specialists" fired by LG VK Saxena earlier this month from the Delhi government. The Delhi government hired 400 persons to work in its 22 ministries and agencies as fellows, consultants, senior research officials, and advisers. According to the LG office, the dismissed employees were working "non-transparently" and without the required authority authorization.

The Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation established the EV Cell in March 2022 to hasten the implementation of the EV policy, ease the distribution of incentives, and quicken the construction of the EV charging infrastructure network.

The dismissal, according to a representative of the Delhi administration, has put a "complete halt" to departmental operations. "The EV Cell has been the driving force for the adoption of EVs. Each of the six professionals in the cell had a high level of training. In order to formulate suggestions for future policy, they conducted a conference in May with more than 250 stakeholders and worldwide sectoral experts for EV Policy 2.0. The person spoke on condition of anonymity. "When they were fired, they were in the process of collating a sizable volume of public comments they had received to create the future policy.

Kailash Gahlot, the transport minister, was contacted by HT but did not answer to requests for comment. When HT requested a statement, the LG's office did not provide one.

The transport department's main office served as the home of the EV Cell, which was made up of subject-matter specialists. The cell was established to facilitate the distribution of demand incentives on vehicles, facilitate the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations in collaboration with stakeholder departments, and determine measures to prepare recommendations for further policy changes to accelerate EV adoption in Delhi, according to a second government official who provided details on the tasks assigned to the cell.

The second official, who also asked to remain anonymous, stated that "the cell has been interacting with decision-makers throughout various departments (like transport, power, and finance) as a single point of contact for stakeholders such as mobility service providers, original equipment manufacturers, and charging service providers in order to accelerate EV adoption.