By News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday launched Pakistan’s first locally-made electric motorcycle (e-bike) and said the government was working on setting out an “eco-friendly roadmap” for Pakistan to save its future generations from the negative effects of climate change and global warming.
“We will devise sustainable policies on environmental protection to materialise the vision of a clean and green Pakistan,” the Prime Minister said in his address at the launch of the e-bike, here at the lawns of the Prime Minister House.
Manufactured by Pakistani company Jolta Electric, the e-bike is billed as a major step towards electrifying the country’s automobile industry.
The launch of e-bike was part of the government’s five-year Pakistan Electric Vehicles Policy 2020-2025 approved last year envisaging an ambitious electric vehicle market with a 30 percent and 90 per cent share in passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks by 2030 and 2040, respectively.
Khan said the governments of economically strong countries “always work on long-term policies, rather than making decisions based on election-to-election strategy to gain votes and promote mafias”.
“We have to take action today to resolve the upcoming challenges,” he said, adding that deforestation and pollution are man made problems that are leading to horrendous effects on human lives.
He recalled that Lahore and Peshawar, once known as the cities of gardens, are now witnessing high levels of airborne toxins which could severely affect the health of a person “by reducing his average age by 11 years”. The Prime Minister said the government’s Electric Vehicle Policy would be export-orientated to encourage economic growth by using local raw materials to manufacture indigenous products. Besides being helpful in reducing pollution, he said, the electric vehicle sector would open up an entirely new sector in the country and generate employment opportunities.
He lauded Jolta Electric Executive Director Dr Muhammad Amjad and the government’s team for promoting the “futuristic” and eco-friendly policies in the country.
Minister for Industries Khusro Bakhtiar said Jolta Electric was the first to launch the initiative among three companies which were given licences by the government to manufacture electric two-wheelers. He expressed confidence that the electric vehicles sector would undergo growth in the near future and mentioned that 17 more companies had shown interest in such production.
He said a regulatory framework would be outlined to manage the area of electric automobiles and the related charging infrastructure. He said Africa, Central Asia and Afghanistan would be target areas for Pakistan to sell its products in line with its auto-development and export policy.