Addressing the press in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain made the announcement.

Rana Tanveer told the reporters that the step of introducing electric vehicles will not only help in lowering the level of pollution but also significantly decrease the country’s oil import bill.

The federal minister added that government was providing plethora of incentives to foreign investors to encourage them for establishing the manufacturing plants of electric vehicles in the country.

He further said that the government has allocated a subsidy worth Rs 4 billion for the promotion of electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers.

He told the journalists that commercial banks will offer soft loans to facilitate the public’s transition to electric vehicles.

“Under the subsidy plan, the federal government will provide 40,000 electric bikes to public, out of which, 120 electric motorcycles will be distributed free of charge to the country’s top-performing students as part of a special initiative to reward academic excellence,” he said.

The minister said that approximately 3,000 charging stations will be established across the country for the charging of electric vehicles.

Earlier, the government of the Punjab has increased the number of e-bikes allocation under the Chief Minister Youth Initiative.

According to a spokesperson for the Punjab Transport Department, the government has increased the number of bikes from 20,000 to 27,200.

The spokesperson confirmed that on the directives of Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, the orphaned students would be provided with bikes free of cost. In addition, all female students who applied for electric bikes will receive their two-wheelers.

The Bank of Punjab (BOP) has approved loans for 20,000 students for purchasing bike. The process of giving bikes to students is ongoing and 7,500 bikes have been distributed to students so far.