Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Legislators in upper house of the parliament on Friday directed that there would be no compromise on quality of car manufacturing and urged that no car manufacturer should be allowed to produce cars that do not follow WP-29 regulations, questioning who would be responsible for the lives lost in such vehicles.
They stressed that quality of cars should be ensured so that precious lives of people may be saved. These apprehensions were expressed in Senate Standing Committee on Industries and Production, held at parliament house. Senator Aon Abbas was on chair.
Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Nyazee stated that no car manufacturer should be allowed to produce cars that do not follow WP-29 regulations, questioning who would be responsible for the lives lost in such vehicles.
Under the 2021-26 Auto Policy, the Ministry has introduced WP-29 safety regulations for auto manufacturers. These safety standards have been adopted by all manufacturers except Suzuki for six variants. Suzuki has decided to discontinue three variants and redesign the remaining three to comply with WP-29 safety regulations. Senator Saifullah stated that no car manufacturer should be allowed to produce cars that do not follow WP-29 regulations.
The Senate Committee also deliberated on the inclusion of cold storage in the industrial sector and the provision of affordable electricity rates. The matter was referred by the Chairman Senate. Officials informed that the ECC approved the matter and forwarded it to the Cabinet for their approval to declare ‘Cold Storage’ an industrial sector.
Furthermore, the committee was briefed on Pakistan’s Auto Policy. Officials informed that 13 automobile companies are currently operating in the country. Initially, there were three companies, but as a result of the 2016-21 Auto Policy, eight new players entered the market. These companies have installed production capacity of 500,000 units annually in more than 40 models with over 100 variants. They contribute 4 per cent to GDP, pay Rs 300 billion in taxes, and generate over two million jobs in the country.
