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Hammad Azhar Reveals Expected Timeline for Electric Vehicle Policy for Cars

The Federal Government is set to announce the Electrical Vehicle policy for 4-wheelers within the next 2 to 3 weeks. The government has already announced the EV policy for 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers.

“The Electrical Vehicle policy, which I will be introducing within the next 2 to 3 weeks, will also address some of the issues in the automobile industry. But for overall measures, we have to wait until June. I think that is also an advantage for the government since we will have some time to prepare ourselves and get informed about the challenges and opportunities of this sector,” said the Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar, during a virtual press meet on Wednesday.

He said that the manufacturing and assembling of both Smartphone and feature phones have increased multiple-fold in Pakistan in the past one year and automobile manufacturers are now interested in either setting up new plants or expanding their existing plants in Pakistan.


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“The Automotive Development Policy was developed in 2016 and it is expiring in June 2021. Until the policy expires, we cannot undertake any drastic measures for this segment, but once it does we will have the opportunity to take a fresh look at this sector and the legislative or operational requirements to promote the automobile industry in Pakistan,” the minister said.

He also remarked that several automobile companies that are not yet operating in Pakistan have also shown interest in beginning operations in the country.

The minister added that the companies that already have plants in Pakistan have expanded their operations and are in the process of further expansion.

Toyota Pakistan has begun its third-shift for production while Kia has doubled its capacity in the country, said the Minister.

He further stated that the automobile industry in Pakistan is heavily protected to the extent of “prohibitive tariffs”, and that the taxes, duties, and other protective measures for the local industry had made it difficult for new companies to do business and had restricted the room for the players that are already operating in Pakistan.

“The previous policy was like giving someone a car as a gift and that was being severely misused,” he said.

With the removal of those measures, the auto players in Pakistan have gained some room and new players, including MG and a few others, will also be coming here.

The minister revealed that the government is prepared to provide protection to the industry including tariffs for the automobile sector but for now these protections are too many. “Once the policy expires, we can look at these tariffs with a fresh eye and also take any other necessary measures to address the problems of this industry,” he said.


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Responding to a question about new companies and whether they will manufacture cars in Pakistan or merely establish assembly plants, Azhar clarified, “In the beginning, they will have assembling operations but since their tariff concessions expire after 10 years, then it is more viable for them to start localized production as well”.

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