Chief Minister of Punjab, Maryam Nawaz, has approved the relaunch of the provincial government’s e-bike scheme, under which 100,000 electric motorcycles will be provided to students across Punjab over the next year on subsidised, interest-free instalment plans.
The decision was taken during a meeting of the Transport and Mass Transit Department chaired by the chief minister.
Under the scheme, the Punjab government will provide a Rs70,000 subsidy on each electric bike. Male students will be required to make a down payment of Rs14,000, followed by interest-free monthly instalments of Rs2,100.
For female students, the provincial government will bear the entire down payment and registration fee, meaning they will only have to pay the Rs2,100 monthly instalment. Government employees will also be eligible to obtain e-bikes under the same interest-free financing arrangement.
Maryam Nawaz has said that the initiative was aimed at making affordable transport more accessible while promoting environmentally friendly mobility across the province.
The meeting was also informed that Punjab would introduce 1,500 electric buses across 91 tehsils in the divisions of Gujranwala, Gujrat, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Faisalabad and Sargodha during the first phase of its public transport expansion.
The chief minister directed authorities to immediately begin electric bus operations in Kot Addu, Talagang and Taunsa Sharif, while expanding services in Vehari, Lodhran and Nankana Sahib. She also instructed officials to ensure that areas with fewer than 15 buses receive additional vehicles to maintain a minimum fleet of 15.
The meeting was further informed that Punjab had established a local electric bus assembly industry, with a provincial plant now assembling electric buses as part of the government’s efforts to expand green public transport and reduce reliance on conventional fuel-powered vehicles.
