A cabinet meeting held today under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s supervisionreviewed Pakistan’s overall political and economic strategy along withother developmental affairs, that concluded in the approval of thecountry’s first-ever Electric Vehicle (EV) policy.
The cabinet also gave the green light to the Mobile Manufacturing Policyand other decisions under consideration of the Economic CoordinationCommittee (ECC).
The Minister for Production and Industry Hammad Azhar, tweeted thefollowing salient points of the EV policylink for cars:
– 1 percent sales tax for locally made EVs up to 50 kwh and light commercial vehicles up to 150 kwh – Duty on the import of charging equipment capped at 1 percent – Federal Excise Duty (FED) does not apply to EVs – Duty-free import of plant and machinery for the manufacture of EVs – Removal of Additional Customs duty and Accounting Services and Tax (AST) on imports of EV cars – For Manufacturers: only 1% tax on import of EV parts – Registration & annual renewal fee waiver for EVs in Islamabad
The EV policy for two-wheel and three-wheel electric vehicles was approvedlast week during a meeting of the ECC link inIslamabad that was chaired by the Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr.Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.
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The ECC also ratified the electric vehicle policy for four-wheelers lastweek, in a move that Mr. Azhar described as “instrumental in rationalizingcosts of purchasing, manufacturing and promoting use of electric vehiclesin Pakistan”.
Regardless of whether the infrastructure will be sufficient to cater to theneeds of the EV market in Pakistan, a huge paradigm shift within the localautomotive industry seems imminent with the approval of the EV policy.
