Cabinet approves electric vehicles policy to cut oil import bill.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved an ambitious national Electric Vehicles (EV) policy under which a target has been set to convert 30 per cent of four- and tri-wheelers in the country into electric vehicles.

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, also endorsed his decision on visa- and passport-free entry of Sikh pilgrims into Pakistan from India through Kartarpur corridor on the occasion of 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikh religion, on Nov 9.

To solve people's problems and take measures to control price hike in the country, Mr Khan gave a three-month deadline to the ministries concerned.

The prime minister termed the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F) dharna (sit-in) 'ineffective' saying that common man had kept himself away from it. He added that the timing of the agitation was not appropriate.

The cabinet expressed satisfaction over an improvement in economic indicators that it hoped would bring relief to the nation soon.

Addressing a joint press conference along with Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan after the cabinet meeting, federal Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam presented a detailed picture of how the government would implement the national EV policy.

He said the government had targeted 30 per cent of total number of vehicles in the country to turn them into electric cars. For this purpose, local car manufacturers had already completed 90 per cent of the spadework, the minister for climate change claimed. 'I recently visited Karachi and was surprised to see that local car manufacturers are waiting for the cabinet's approval for EV policy so that they can roll out their electric vehicles into the market,' he said.

The minister said the EV policy would help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. 'In developed countries, the ratio of emissions of greenhouse gases from vehicles in total volume of environmental pollution is 20pc but here in Pakistan it is 40pc. With introduction of electric cars, trucks, vans and even tri-wheeler rickshaws, the rate of pollution and smog will drop down,' he added.

Mr Aslam said another advantage of the policy was affordable transportation as the cost of running electric vehicles was much lower than that of plying vehicles on petrol, Condensed Natural Gas (CNG) or other fuel.

He expressed the hope that the use of electric vehicles would help the government drastically cut import bill of...