Schneider Electric Pakistan's Kamran Sultan on Launching EV Chargers, Fighting Counterfeits, and Localising for Pakistan's Market — Exclusive Interview

In an extended interview with Engineering Post, Kamran Sultan, Channels Commercial Country Leader at Schneider Electric Pakistan, laid out the company's three-pillar strategy for the next phase of its Pakistan business: EV charging infrastructure, a hard push against counterfeit Schneider-branded electrical products, and a localisation programme that's shifted Schneider's Pakistan operations from pure imports to a hybrid manufacturing model.

The EV charger play

Schneider has launched its EV charger range in Pakistan through a partnership with SBEEC, the company's system-integrator partner for the segment. The initial deployment targets hundreds of public and private charging stations nationwide over the next several years, with the goal of building the kind of charging-density baseline that turns EV adoption from a niche to a mass-market option in Pakistani metros.

The timing aligns with the federal government's EV Policy 2025-30: 30% vehicle electrification by 2030 requires a charging-network build-out that Pakistan does not yet have. Schneider's installed base in industrial and commercial customers — banks, hotels, factories, government buildings — gives it a faster site-acquisition path than a greenfield charging-network operator would have.

The localisation strategy

Sultan described Schneider's localisation as a "structured" shift rather than a wholesale move. The company's collaboration with key Pakistani panel-builder partners now sources critical components from Schneider's global manufacturing while localising the rest — enclosures, busbars, secondary wiring, and assembly. The result: type-tested MV panels at Pakistan-local lead times, instead of 12-week import waits.

This model has been extended through the Panel Builder Development Programme for low-voltage solutions: certified Pakistani panel builders import type-tested enclosures up to 6300 amps from Schneider, integrate them with Schneider components, and deliver finished panels under Schneider's quality envelope. It's a structurally durable model — Schneider keeps the high-IP elements, Pakistani manufacturers capture the assembly and integration value, and customers get faster delivery with the same compliance posture.

The counterfeit fight

Schneider's brand presence in Pakistan has attracted a persistent counterfeit problem — unbranded or weakly-branded electrical products sold under Schneider trade dress, particularly in low-voltage sockets, MCBs, and consumer-facing wiring devices. Sultan was direct about the safety implications: counterfeit products don't meet Schneider's certification standards, they routinely fail under load, and they put end customers at real fire risk.

Schneider's counter-campaign runs on three tracks:

• The Schneider Electric Marketplace — a Pakistan-specific digital storefront where customers can verify authentic product authenticity before purchase.
• A dedicated Partner Locator website that lets consultants, contractors, and end customers identify authorised distributors and panel builders by region.
• Channel transition — actively working with informal or grey-channel resellers to bring them inside the authorised distribution structure.

The pricing posture

Schneider has explicitly adapted its global pricing to Pakistani market realities — Sultan noted special pricing for Pakistan that maintains quality but moves Schneider's premium positioning into a price band accessible to mid-tier projects. The company's switches-and-sockets portfolio in particular is structured across multiple ranges to cover premium, mid-tier, and standard segments without compromising on the underlying safety certification.

The broader industry context

Pakistan's electrical infrastructure demand continues to grow despite macroeconomic headwinds — driven by industrial-park build-out, hospitality projects, hospital expansion, and the energy-management-and-automation needs that come with rising electricity costs. Schneider's read on the market is that demand for digitally-enabled, internationally-certified electrical solutions is increasing fastest in segments where consultants drive specifications: hospitals, hotels, data centres, and large-format commercial real estate.