BOP offers interest free green loans; 10,000 eBikes for students and 10,000 eRickshaws in Punjab

LAHORE  –  The Government of Punjab, Trans­port Department, held a launch ceremony on January 09, 2024 to introduce exciting initiatives aimed at revolutionizing trans­portation sector. The event, held at Faletti’s Hotel Lahore, show­cased the GoPb’s commitment to promote sustainable and eco-friendly modes of transportation.

This initiative featured the launch of an interest-free scheme in partnership with The Bank of Punjab (BOP), aimed to provid­ing 10,000 e-Bikes to university students across Punjab. Besides, GoPb also initiated the registra­tion of retrofitted three-wheel­ers and issued inaugural license for eRickshaws. These are signif­icant milestones in the transition towards sustainable transporta­tion in Punjab. This event was graced by Mohsin Raza Naqvi, Chief Minister of Punjab, who in no unequivocal terms expressed about the dedication of his gov­ernment in promoting e-Mobil­ity for environmental benefits. Zafar Masud, President/CEO of BOP, and senior officials from the Bank, high-level government representatives, and delegates from various electronic vehicle manufacturers were also present at the occasion. Naqvi stated that Lahore is one of the most pol­luted cities in the world and time has come where we all need to play our due part. He felt proud that BOP had taken the lead role in this initiative, and was delighted to launch 1st interest free e-Bikes Scheme for students as well as interest free financing of 10,000 eRickshaws in Punjab. He announced that from now on, GoPb shall only purchase e-Bikes. The Chief Minister also added that 2,000 e-Bikes for gov­ernment servants, 2,000 e-bikes for working women and 2,000 e-Scooties for disabled persons shall also be provided through an interest free program soon.

Zafar Masud, while speaking at the occasion, emphasized upon the core advantages this program shall have on promoting Econom­ic Activity, Environmental Sus­tainability, Youth Empowerment, Green Financing, Financial Inclu­sion and Wider Demographic ac­cessibility for the people of Pun­jab. He expressed his gratitude to the CM Punjab and underscored the significance of this partner­ship, contributing towards preser­vation of the environment. Masud also said that integrating environ­mental considerations into bank­ing system would assist BOP in directing international financing from multilaterals. He mentioned about an opportunity where an agreement with a foreign agency is being finalized to the tune of € 50 M to help support green-fi­nancing projects through BOP.