IDCOL to support in scaling up electric vehicle uptake in Bangladesh

The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) organised a workshop on Thursday (17 February) titled, "Scaling Up Electric Vehicle Uptake in Bangladesh" at the capital's Hotel InterContinental.

The workshop was organised as part of the UK Government funded "Road to a Green Bangladesh" project that is identifying scalable business models and a financing ecosystem for businesses with an aim for electric vehicle (EV) uptake in Bangladesh, said a press release. 

Earlier, IDCOL in partnership with Ricardo-AEA Limited, UK received funding from the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) under its UK PACT (Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions) Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF).

In this project experts from Ricardo, IDCOL, HIVOS-Energia and other Bangladeshi organisations such as LightCastle Partners and Policy Exchange has engaged with the individual transport providers, SMEs and cooperatives with an aim for EV uptake in Bangladesh.

"IDCOL is opening dialogues and bringing in the mainstream EV market players to develop an ecosystem where with the right set of business models the sector will grow to be bankable guided by the policy framework. IDCOL also intends to catalyze private sector investment targeted towards the infrastructure development for wide scale EV adoption in Bangladesh," said Abdul Baki, the additional secretary to Economic Relation Division and Executive Director and CEO (in-charge) of IDCOL. 

Md Nazrul Islam, the secretary to the Road Transport and Highways Division graced the occasion as chief guest; while Md Habibur Rahman, the secretary to the Power Division was present the occasion as special guest and Fatima Yasmin, the secretary to Economic Relation Division graced the occasion as chair. John Warburton, the senior environment advisor from the British High Commission was also present at the event.

"Based on prior experience of developing similar financial instruments, IDCOL is perfectly positioned to develop a set of incentives for the purpose of building up the EV infrastructure. With support from the development partners, IDCOL can reduce the uncertainty of market uptake through development of flexible financing solutions for the private sector," Fatima Yasmin said. 

"Power division is planning to establish EV charging station networks in major cities and highway routes where there will be a possibility of rapid deployment of EVs. When the market is ready, the power system of Bangladesh will also support with sufficient amount of EV charging networks," said Md Habibur Rahman. 

Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary Md Nazrul Islam said: "Low cost and efficient transport network is a key determinant to drive growth and influence trade flows. The Government has set a clear vision to rally the collective national effort through Public-Private Partnership strategy by identifying key transport projects and allocating resources accordingly."