Newly appointed Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Kulman Ghising has announced that he will take the country into the electric vehicle (EV) era.
Ghising, who has been appointed on 14 September as Minister for Urban Development, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation and Physical Infrastructure and Transport. He was managing director of Nepal Electricity Authority till five and half months back. Moreover, Ghising has been appreciated for resolving the country’s long-standing load-shedding (power outage) crisis, which had resulted in power cuts of up to 18 hours per day for decades after assuming office in his first term.
After taking office on 15 September, Minister Ghising decided to form a five-member task force to study the promotion of electric vehicles and ways to address challenges.
He has formed the task force under the coordination of the head of the Ministry’s Infrastructure Construction and Transport Division. The committee includes the Director General of the Department of Transport Management, the Ministry’s Under-Secretary for Law, the Under-Secretary for Internal Management Branch, and the Senior Divisional Engineer for Mechanics.
The task force has been mandated to submit a report within 7 days. The task force will study the current status of electric vehicles, existing policies, legal provisions, etc.
Similarly, the team has been asked to submit suggestions for policy, institutional, and economic reforms to promote EVs, and to recommend EV quality and standards. Minister Ghising said that to increase electricity consumption, fuel vehicles should now be converted to electric drive. He said that infrastructure should be built to increase electricity consumption.
We have enough electricity now. There may be technical and managerial requirements. We need to solve them and reduce the import of petrol, diesel and gas. This will stop the import costs and increase the consumption of electricity. It has a huge impact on climate change. Using electricity in vehicles and kitchens will solve many problems. Infrastructure should be created for that, he said.
There is a solution. Infrastructure should be created for that, he said. He said that Nepal will be among the top countries in the world in the use of electric vehicles. He said that now all industries, factories, trains, metros and vehicles should be powered by electricity.
