Sri Lankan government to purchase 70,000 hybrid and electric cars in the next seven years
The government of Sri Lanka is reportedly making arrangements to buy at least 70,000 hybrid and electric cars in the next seven years in line with its cleaner energy policy.
Media reports quoting a government official states that the Treasury was currently taking stock of the state-owned vehicles and initial estimates placed the number of cars, vans, trucks and motorcycles to be replaced at about 70,000 in the next seven years.
Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera last week proposed in the government’s Blue Green Economy Budget for 2018 to ensure that all state vehicles were either electric or hybrid by 2025.
All vehicles in the country will have to be electric powered by 2040, Samaraweera said presenting the 2018 budget.
Sri Lanka joins Britain, France and India in announcing plans to do away with vehicles using fossil fuels in the next two to three decades, a media report noted.
However, reports note that Sri Lanka has not made any provisions in its 2018 budget to buy greener vehicles in 2018.
Nevertheless, the Finance Minister observed that he was spending Rs. 500 million to buy 50 electric buses for the state-owned Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) as a first step towards going green in the public transport sector.
OSL take:
The policy of the Sri Lankan government to promote hybrid and electric cars and the introduction of initiatives promoting the importation and purchase of such vehicles has opened up a new opportunity for interested local and foreign businesses. Also, interested parties could also look at the opportunity to provide 50 electric buses to the SLTB that has been proposed in the 2018 budget.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/16112017/Z_6 |