The Punjab government is taking several steps to reduce environmental pollution, including installing solar panels on the rooftops of municipal buildings.
During a stakeholder meeting, Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervez Elahi said that the World Bank (WB) would grant the Punjab government a $200 million soft loan for the Green Development Project.
The CM declared that to make government structures more energy-efficient, the government would install monitoring systems for the quality of the air and water and solar panels. He said that in ten districts of Punjab, including Lahore, Sheikhupura, Multan, DG Khan, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, and Vehari, the government would install systems for monitoring the quality of the air and water.
Elahi further stated that the proposed green funding plan will establish a $50 million “Environment Endowment Fund.” He said that a green pilot program with 25 electric buses would begin in Lahore and that laws would be implemented to restrict plastic usage throughout the province.
The chief minister stated that 100 small industrial units would be eligible for loans totaling $30 million as part of the green finance scheme, which will also comprise?rice mills,?steel mills, stone crushing, and leather processing industries.
In addition, the meeting further reviewed a suggestion to levy a token tax on private vehicles that are subject to motor vehicle inspection and certification. It was decided that the inspection of pollution-causing equipment would be incorporated into the Vehicle Inspection and Certification System (VICS). At the same time, soft loans would be granted to six industries as part of the aforementioned project.
Moreover, to account for exchange rate fluctuations, rates on new solar power facilities will be modified annually instead of quarterly.
The federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has decided that tariffs on new solar power plants will be assessed annually following changes in the USD/PKR exchange rate, according to reports in the media. This decision was made in response to the Power Division’s request to create an ideal framework for addressing the nation’s energy problems.