The Punjab government is set to expand electric public transport beyond major cities, with 1,500 electric buses planned for deployment across 91 tehsils from January 2027. The programme was approved by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz during a meeting held through video link, with dedicated electric bus depots also approved for each tehsil. The first batch of buses is expected to arrive in Lahore in January, while the provincial government has set a broader target of having 3,000 electric buses operational across Punjab by June 2027. The expansion is intended to extend cleaner public transportation services to commuters outside the province’s major urban centres.
According to the briefing presented during the meeting, different districts will receive buses based on the number of tehsils and anticipated transportation requirements. Multan’s nine tehsils are scheduled to receive 169 buses, while Sahiwal’s four tehsils will receive 87. Bahawalpur’s 11 tehsils are allocated 215 buses, Dera Ghazi Khan’s 10 tehsils will receive 63, and Faisalabad’s 12 tehsils are planned to receive 202 buses. Sargodha’s 14 tehsils will receive 98 buses, Gujranwala’s seven tehsils will receive 125, Gujrat’s eight tehsils will receive 122, while 219 buses will be deployed across 16 tehsils of Rawalpindi. The distribution reflects the government’s plan to expand electric bus services across a wider geographic area rather than limiting the programme to major metropolitan routes.
The provincial government has already established a sizeable electric bus network, with 612 electric buses reported to be fully operational across different districts and serving millions of commuters every day. Another 192 buses in Multan and other districts are expected to become operational within days. Additional services are also planned for Sargodha, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Lahore, Muzaffargarh, Rawalpindi, Jhang, Bahawalpur, Rahim Yar Khan and Attock. Bhakkar, Hafizabad, Khanewal, Chiniot, Layyah, Okara, Sialkot, Murree, Gujrat and Sheikhupura are also among the districts scheduled to receive additional services, with further buses planned for Mandi Bahauddin, Vehari, Kasur, Lodhran, Nankana Sahib, Narowal, Gujranwala and Multan.
The chief minister has directed officials to complete the first phase of the electric bus programme by the end of September this year, while the wider expansion will continue into 2027. Alongside the electric bus initiative, work is also progressing on mass transit systems in Faisalabad and Gujranwala. The provincial government is separately undertaking rehabilitation and reconstruction work on 25 stations of the Lahore Metrobus service. The expansion of electric buses to tehsil-level areas marks a broader shift toward electric mobility in Punjab, with the planned network expected to provide residents in smaller cities and towns with additional public transport options while reducing reliance on conventional fuel-powered buses.
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