Pakistan’s EV Policy (4-Wheelers) was approved in December 2020 but has not yet been implemented. The Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) has recently informed that the EV Policy will be part of the new Automotive Industry Development and Export Plan (AIDEP 2021-26).
The information was revealed at a recent meeting of the Auto Industry Development Committee (AIDC) held at the Board of Investment (BoI). The Minister for Industries and Production advised Secretary AIDC to shed light on EV Policy, who then requested the Chairman Engineering Development Board (EDB) to read the official statement for the new Automotive Industry Development and Export Plan (AIDEP 2021-26).
AIDEP (2021-26)
The policy statement read by the Chair Engineering Development Board (EDB) stresses the following points:
- Enhancement of localization
- Vehicle price reductions
- Innovation in the tractor industry
- Improvements in exports
- Depletion of smuggling
- Employment generation
The new Automotive Industry Development and Export Plan (AIDEP 2021-26) will focus on the local manufacturing of vehicles as per UNECE’s WP.29 vehicle regulations. The policy statement further highlights that the auto industry will make customer satisfaction its priority. Moreover, the locally manufactured/assembled vehicles will match the international quality benchmarks.
The Chairman also brought up the matter of pricing of electric vehicles in Pakistan. He mentioned that EVs range from less than Rs.1 million to over 10 million and stressed that the auto industry needs to develop a proper valuation process to determine the pricing and not just tag the vehicles off with random prices.
The house ended the meeting with two key points. One that the Engineering Development Board (EDB) will arrange another meeting with the National Tariff Commission (NTC) to update them on the EV policy and AIDEP matters. Two that the EDB will consult with public and private stakeholders and finalize the implementation process of the EV Policy at the earliest.
