Federal govt to distribute 40, 000 subsidised e-bikes among general public

ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Wednesday announced to provide 40,000 e-bikes to the general public at subsidized prices.

As per the details, this was announced by Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain while addressing a news conference in Islamabad.

The minister said that huge incentives are being given to foreign investors for setting up electric vehicle plants in the country.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said that the introduction of electric vehicles will not only help reduce pollution but will also significantly reduce the country’s oil import bill.

The minister said that a subsidy of Rs4 billion has been allocated for the promotion of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

He said that banks will offer soft loans to facilitate the transition of the public to electric vehicles.

“Under the subsidy scheme, the government will provide 40,000 electric motorcycles to the general public, out of which 120 electric motorcycles will be distributed free of cost under a special initiative to reward academic merit among the country’s top performing students,” he added.

Rana Tanveer Hussain said that about 3,000 charging stations will be set up across the country for charging electric vehicles.

Earlier in the day, the Punjab government increased the number of e-bikes allocated under the Chief Minister’s Youth Initiative.

According to a spokesperson for the Punjab Transport Department, the number of bikes has increased from 20,000 to 27,200.

On the instructions of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, free motorcycles are being provided to orphaned students. Moreover, all female students who had applied for electric bikes will receive their two-wheelers, the spokesperson confirmed.

Bank of Punjab has approved loans for 20,000 students to purchase motorcycles. So far, 7,500 bikes have been distributed among students and their deliveries are ongoing daily.