Malik Amin Aslam, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) for the Environment has announced that the government aims to install fast electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across Pakistan. It has decided to make these charging stations on highways and motorways across the country. This is another step towards Prime Minister Imran Khan’s mission to make a greener Pakistan.
The government is currently discussing electricity rates with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), which will cut the running as well as the making cost of electric vehicles, SAPM Aslam revealed in an interview.
SAPM Aslam further revealed that the government has formulated a ‘formula’ for the registration of EVs, which is also a part of the EV policy that covers all the matters related to the registration of EVs.
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To approve and oversee the EV policy, an inter-ministerial committee has been formed. The committee will provide incentives for registrations, imports, and duties. These incentives will cut down the running cost by 60%. It will also look after any concerns that EV users may have in the future. The government hopes to attract established automakers to produce EVs in Pakistan. SAPM Malik Amin Aslam, along with the Minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, and the Minister for Industry and Production, Hammad Azhar, are active members of the committee. They also strongly advocate normalizing the use of electric vehicles across Pakistan.
Moreover, all the ministries involved are ensuring that the EVs and their charging stations complement Pakistan’s infrastructure and they are focused on its practicality as well. SAPM Aslam believes that this is an important step for Pakistan’s future when it comes to air pollution and fuel expenses.
“The government has set a target to bring half a million electric motorcycles and rickshaws along with more than 100,000 electric cars, buses, and trucks into the transportation system in the next five years,” SAPM Aslam added further.
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In October of this year, Fawad Chaudhry while addressing the press in Islamabad revealed that the government is planning to shift a significant portion of public transport to electric vehicles. He was at a ceremony to sign an MoU between the Ministry of Science and Technology and a British manufacturing company named EGV Limited. The company would manufacture electric buses in the country. Buses will run in Pakistan’s three major cities, Karachi, Islamabad, and Lahore initially.
The minister further revealed that the government aims to shift the whole motorway network into an electric vehicle charging station within the next three years. “Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government had spent Rs60 billion on Orange Line project and the present government has to give an annual subsidy of Rs12 billion for the project,” said Fawad Chaudhry while highlighting the difference between PTI and PMLN.
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