ISLAMABAD: The climate change minister, Mushahidullah Khan, said on Saturday that reduction in taxes on clean energy technologies would lessen Pakistan’s heavy dependence on coal, oil, and natural gas resources for power generation.

“Fossil fuels are non renewable and will eventually dwindle, becoming too expensive,” said Mushahidullah Khan while talking to media here.

In the new financial budget for 2015-16, the government has exempted solar panels and certain related components from sales tax and customs duty for a year.

The government has also exempted solar and wind energy equipment from withholding tax for five years to encourage their local manufacturing.

“These steps will help boost power generation from clean and renewable energy sources, increase the common man’s access, particularly those in rural off-grid areas, to the cheap energy,” the minister said.

He said the tax relief would also create new jobs in the solar and wind energy sectors and reduce country’s reliance on furnace oil and other fossil fuels for power generation.

The minister was of the view that these steps would help tackle environmental degradation, promotion of alternative energy and efficient use of solar, wind and water at all scales and sustainable agricultural practices.

“To help smallholder farmers and to cut heavy expenditure incurred on diesel/electricity tubewells, the government has also given approval to providing interest-free loans for setting up new solar tubewells or replacing the existing ones with solar tubewells,” the minister said.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2015

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