What Nu 5 billion of fuel subsidy could buy instead

The Prime Minister disclosed to the National Assembly on 22 May 2026 that Nu 1.45 billion had been spent on the diesel-price subsidy through that date. The Economic Stimulus Plan had committed Nu 2.5 billion to the fuel cushion. If the current Nu 23/litre subsidy continues at current consumption — roughly 55,000 active diesel vehicles, 40 fills per year — the annualised burn rate is approximately Nu 5 to 7 billion per year. The central case here uses Nu 5 billion.

That same Nu 5 billion, redirected, would buy any one of the following in a single year: 167 electric buses (Yutong / BYD class), or 100 kilometres of mountain-road full reconstruction, or 250 fast-charging hubs (four chargers each), or one full Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor (e.g. Babesa to Norzin Lam), or EV-purchase incentives at Nu 200,000 each for 25,000 vehicles.

Across five years — Nu 25 billion of redirected subsidy — the country buys a working Thimphu-to-Phuentsholing BRT corridor, a fleet of approximately 500 electric buses serving the major cities, 1,000 kilometres of mountain-road upgrade, and the charging-and-incentive infrastructure that would accelerate private-vehicle electrification beyond the government-only fleet currently planned.

The single year of subsidy already committed could fund the entire announced 99 EVs + 45 e-buses procurement (approximately Nu 4 to 5 billion combined), with money left over for road maintenance. The arithmetic is not the constraint. The sequencing — building the visible alternative before lifting the visible cushion — is.