ISLAMABAD – The Ministry of Climate Change is mulling over an amendmentthat will allow electric vehicles to be imported duty-free under theproposed Electric Vehicle Policy. The local automakers have heavilycriticized this scheme, calling it an attempt to kill the industry.
Interestingly, the climate change ministry has exceeded its mandate inpreparing the draft copy of the Electric Vehicle Policy, as the autoindustry falls under the purview of the Ministry of Commerce and Ministryof Industries and Production.
The policy will be discussed in the next cabinet meeting for approval. TheClimate Change ministry had published the draft on its website before thisbut had to take it down after objections from Ministry of Industries.
Sources say that the Climate Change ministry was told to stay out of theauto sector by the Industries ministry but that didn’t stop the ClimateChange ministry as they continued to work on the policy.
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The Ministry of Climate Change wants to allow electric cars to be importedduty-free as they are expensive and making them duty-free would help makethese cars commercially viable.
However, the idea has come under fire from the domestic industry, whichsays that it would negatively impact the local industry and lead tothousands becoming unemployed.
