Kathmandu. Secretary at the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Krishna Bahadur Raut, has urged the private sector to produce electric vehicles in Nepal. Raut made the request while speaking at a panel discussion on ‘Driving the Future: EV Adoption in Nepal’ organized by the Economic Media Association Nepal (IMAN) and NADA on the occasion of the ongoing NADA Autoshow in Kathmandu.

Recently, some industrialists have started assembling electric vehicles in Nepal and some industrialists have also sought permission to open industries in special economic zones (SEZs). Secretary Raut said that if vehicles are produced in Nepal, employment will be created and the trade deficit facing the country will also be reduced. “At present, we are exporting only Rs 300 billion while importing more than Rs 1.8 trillion and the trade deficit is Rs 1,527 billion,” raut said, adding, “Petroleum products are at number one and vehicles at number 3÷4.” ’

He said that if production could be done in Nepal, the trade deficit would be reduced, employment opportunities would be created and the flow of foreign currency out in large quantities would also be reduced. He said that a new law regarding EVs is in the process of being formulated and the new law will also solve the problems seen now. At present, the sellers of electric vehicles are facing problems ranging from registration process to vehicle testing. Secretary Raut said that the government is preparing to join the PPP model by involving the state and local governments to solve these problems.

Banks have also invested well in EV: Vice President Regmi

Surendra Raj Regmi, Vice President of Nepal Bankers Association and CHIEF Executive Officer of Global IME Bank, said that banks have invested well in electric vehicles. He said that the bank will continue to give priority to EV in the coming days. Stating that the import of EVs as private vehicles started in 2000, he said that the statistics of the current use would be encouraging. According to him, banks are investing on priority as the EVs are also very good from the environmental point of view. According to Regmi, Global IME has set up a separate unit to invest loans in EVs and other banks have also set up them.