Islamabad: The federal cabinet has approved a policy framework under which the government, as per its inclination, will be enabled to convert 30% of the country’s tri and four-wheelers into electric vehicles by the end of its tenure, a news source reported. Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan provided his sanction to the project during a meeting held on Wednesday.
Federal Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, during a press briefing, provided details of the procedure with regard to the implementation of the national electric vehicles (EV) policy. He said that the local car manufacturers had already completed 90 per cent of the initial work on the project. He added that these groups were awaiting the cabinet’s approval of the EV policy in order to roll out their electric vehicles.
The minister expressed his hope that the initiative would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He stated that the greenhouse gas emissions ratio in developed countries was 20pc, but in Pakistan it this figure stood at 40pc. He said that the introduction of electric cars, trucks, vans, and rickshaws would curb pollution and smog levels.
Further, he stated that another advantage of the policy is that it will make the transportation system more affordable since electric fuel can be much cheaper than other fuels and it will also help the government reduce the import bill of oil which currently stands at USD 2 billion annually.
