The government plans to set up charging stations for electric vehicles in every dzongkhag by the end of next year. This is to encourage more people to opt for electric vehicles and to minimize the country’s reliance on imported fossil fuels. This was highlighted by the Information and Communications Ministry during the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) fourth ministerial conference on transport today.
Currently, there are 33 charging stations in only six western Dzongkhags that include Thimphu, Paro, Phuentshogling, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang and Haa.
According to the MoIC, at least one charging station will be installed in the remaining fourteen districts by next year. The government is investing Nu 69 M for this.
The MoIC Secretary, Phuntsho Tobgay, said the main purpose for installing the charging stations is to create an ecosystem for electric vehicles so that people travelling across the country are actually not inconvenienced.
“Our aim is to actually take it in the remaining 14 dzongkhags so that electric vehicle users can actually have access to charging stations.”
He added about 300 fossil fuel-driven taxis would also be replaced with electric ones by the end of next year.
There are more than 200 electric vehicles including 33 electric taxis on the road as of now. By the end of this month, over a hundred more electric taxis will arrive in the country. Over Nu 6 bn worth of fossil fuel was imported last year.
There are more than 110,000 vehicles in the country today.
Pema Seldon Tshering
Edited by Yeshi Gyaltshen
