ECC ratifies electric vehicle policy for cars

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has finally ratified the electric vehicle policy for four-wheelers in Pakistan. The move will prove critical in rationalizing costs of purchasing, manufacturing, and promoting the use of electrical vehicles in the country.

The announcement was made by Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar as he took to Twitter to break the news.

Today, ECC ratified the Electric Vehicle policy for 4 wheelers. It will prove instrumental in rationalising costs of purchasing, manufacturing & promoting use of electric vehicles in Pakistan.

ECC also ratified removal of certain anomalies in Mobile Phones Manufacturing policy.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) December 16, 2020

The removal of certain anomalies in mobile phone manufacturing policy has also apparently been ratified.

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry stated that this will play a pivotal role in bringing this huge change in Pakistan. He further stated that changing the vehicle regime from combustion to electric will not only benefit the environment but will also bring a downward trend in prices.

During a virtual press conference back in November, Mr. Azhar announced that the federal government will be rolling out its EV policy for four-wheelers within a few weeks. This would give the government enough time to prepare itself for the challenges and opportunities associated with this domain.

“The Electrical Vehicle policy, which I will be introducing within the next 2 to 3 weeks, will also address some of the issues in the automobile industry. But for overall measures, we have to wait until June. I think that is also an advantage for the government since we will have some time to prepare ourselves and get informed about the challenges and opportunities of this sector,” he said on the occasion.

When asked about whether new companies would be manufacturing cars in Pakistan or just establishing assembly plants, he clarified that while assembling operations would take the lead initially, the expiration of tariff concessions after 10 years would make it more viable for them to start producing cars locally.