KATHMANDU, May 19: Minister for Urban Development, Ram Kumari Jhakri has said that the vehicles running on petroleum products should be converted into electric vehicles as the import of petroleum products has increased the country’s trade deficit.

Addressing a seminar on ‘National Consultative Workshop on Strategy for Electrification of Public Transport in Nepal’ jointly organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Minister Jhakri said that the import of petroleum products was causing a huge trade deficit in the country and the engines of vehicles running on petroleum products should be converted into electric ones.

"It is time for the government to encourage the electrification of fuel-powered vehicles by giving them the necessary concessions,” Minister Jhakri said. "We will help and support in enacting laws to promote electric vehicles." According to her, electric vehicles should be promoted in a policy-driven manner.

Similarly, Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Renu Kumari Yadav said that the ministry was working to improve the transport management system. "The ministry is pursuing a policy to promote electric vehicles," she said. “Two percent of the total vehicles registered so far are electric vehicles. The government is also working to bring electric public vehicles into operation.”

The government aims to have 90 percent electric vehicles, including two-wheeled private vehicles, by 2030. Similarly, it also aims to have six percent electric public vehicles and aims to build 200 kilometers of electric rail network by 2030.

 
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