Sindh Transport Minister Syed Owais Shah launches first electric bus in Karachi on Tuesday. Twitter photo

The Sindh government on Tuesday introduced Pakistan's first-ever electric bus in Karachi. The inauguration of the bus was done by the Sindh Transport Minister, Awais Qadir Shah.

Owais inaugurated the project under public-private partnership. The electric bus will run from Tower to Sohrab Goth and the fare for one stop will be as low as Rs10. The project will begin with 10 bus stops. Sapphire Group’s bus has a capacity of 37 seats.

He said the fare will be Rs4 per kilometre and the public transport will run seat to seat, adding that the number of these buses will be increased on a monthly basis.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Owais said that the electric bus would be run on a trial basis from Tower via MA Jinnah Road and Shahra-e –Pakistan to Sohrab Goth.

Speaking to the media after the launching ceremony, he said more electric buses will be brought to the city’s roads in co-operation with the private sector.

Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry took to Twitter to congratulate the Sindh government, specially Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and his ministry, on their “remarkable step to add electric bus in Karachi Commuters system.”

He said his ministry fully supports the Sindh government in this “futuristic approach” and expressed the hope that the Punjab and KP governments will also take the same route as soon as possible.

Passengers travel in electric bus in Karachi. Twitter photo

Last year in December, the federal cabinet had approved Pakistan’s first Electric Vehicle Policy.

The Electric Vehicle (EV) Policy and the Mobile Manufacturing Policy were endorsed by the federal cabinet following their approval by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on December 16.

NNI News Service