New Delhi, Sep 28 (PTI) The Delhi government is likely to move a plea in the Supreme Court soon seeking removal of the cap of one lakh on the number of auto-rickshaws in the national capital in favour of e-autos, officials said on Tuesday. The matter was discussed with the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) recently and the central panel is also supportive of the move, a senior government official told PTI. "We are very soon going to move an application in the Supreme Court that the cap should be removed in case of electric autos," he said. "If the cap is removed, we would like to see that the auto-rickshaw space is taken over by the e-autos. The first step that we have taken is we have invited applications for over 4,000 permits, which are within the one-lakh limit, for e-autos," the official said. The transport department has so far issued over 95,000 permits and reserved more than 4,200 for e-autos in a bid to encourage adoption of electric vehicles, PTI had reported earlier. Out of over 4,200 permits for e-autos, 35 per cent have been reserved for women. An official of the CAQM said the panel has supported the move subject to only e-autos being procured. "We had sought a plan from states for augmentation of electrical mobility. So, as a result, the Delhi government has decided to move the SC," he said. The apex court had in 2019 directed the Delhi government to freeze the total number of auto-rickshaw permits, and issue new permits only to replace any existing permit. The Delhi government froze the number of permits at around 82,000. Later, in 1998, the city government launched an incentive programme to replace the auto-rickshaws with compressed natural gas. In 2011, the number was raised to one lakh auto-rickshaws. On a plea moved by Bajaj Auto seeking removal of the cap on auto-rickshaws, the SC had in March 2019 said that it can be done only after empirical data collection and by ascertaining how many vehicles the roads in the city can tolerate. Bajaj Auto had referred to the now-dissolved Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority report which had sought removal of the cap of one lakh autos in Delhi. The EPCA, in its report, had said the lack of a competitive, comprehensive origin-to-destination public transport system, including first and last-mile connectivity, has directly contributed to increased private ownership of vehicles, as well as the congestion and pollution resulting from it. According to a two-year study conducted by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology-Pune, transport is the most dominating source of PM 2.5 emissions in Delhi as it accounts for 41 per cent of PM 2.5 pollution in the city. PTI GVS SMN SMN