Minister for Climate Change, Malik Amin Aslam, stated on Wednesday that electric vehicles (EVs) are “slowly” catching on in Pakistan after the ratification of the National Electric Vehicle Policy.
He said this at the Pakistan Climate Conference 2022 organized by the Overseas Chambers of Commerce and Industries (OICCI), and added, “I think once it gets to an inflection point, we’ll see a substantial increase in EVs in Pakistan”.
The government wants to see a “major shift” in the transportation sector by 2030, with EVs accounting for 30 percent of all vehicles.
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“We’ve already started moving towards that target. We’re not just talking. We’re actually walking the talk,” Minister Aslam claimed.
The government has provided significant tax reductions for the import of EVs, their components, and equipment to encourage automakers to produce EVs in the country.
The general sales tax on locally built electric automobiles has reduced from 17 percent to almost zero, as reported by Reuters. Also, the tariff on imported electric car parts such as batteries, controllers, and inverters has been reduced to one percent while the import duty on fully assembled electric automobiles has been slashed from 25 percent to 10 percent for a year.
Minister Aslam reaffirmed the government’s latest promise to refrain from investing in projects involving imported coal. He said that the government has converted two 2,400 MW dirty-fuel projects to zero carbon emission hydel power.
The government also approved 1,200 MW of wind power initiatives that had been “stuck for six years” in 2021, the minister said, and added, “We got them okayed. They are now in the process of getting commissioned”.
