The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government will soon launch an electric bike scheme for women, with college and university students as well as employed women eligible to receive the bikes. Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi announced the initiative while addressing the 57th meeting of the provincial cabinet, saying the government would provide electric bikes to eligible women across the province on a strictly merit based basis.
The government plans to launch the first phase of the EV bike scheme soon, though the announcement did not provide details about the number of bikes, eligibility criteria, application process or the exact launch date. This leaves several operational specifics still to be finalized before the scheme becomes accessible to the women it is intended to benefit, similar to how earlier electric bike distribution programmes in other provinces have rolled out details progressively after their initial announcement.
Afridi said the provincial government would follow the EV bike initiative with an electric rickshaw scheme, describing the planned EV rickshaws as an important step toward promoting a cleaner and greener environment in the province. This sequencing suggests KP is positioning electric two and three wheeler vehicles as complementary components of a broader push toward electric mobility, rather than treating the bike scheme as a standalone initiative.
The chief minister also directed authorities to speed up work on an electric bus scheme for divisional headquarters across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, tying the EV bike announcement to a wider set of electric vehicle initiatives spanning personal, commercial and public transport categories. Taken together, these plans form part of the provincial government’s broader push to expand the use of electric vehicles while providing women with additional transportation options, following similar patterns seen in electric mobility schemes introduced by other Pakistani provinces in recent years.
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