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Energy Security: The Price for
South Asia’s Economic Success?
With the South Asia’s rapid economic expansion and a consistently increasing population
comes a growing concern about the region’s energy security
An Analysis of the Energy Security in South Asia.
South Asia is touted to be one of the fastest-
growing region in the world. Driven by India’s
strong economic expansion, favorable oil prices,
robust domestic consumption and heightened
local and foreign investment, the regional
economic growth of South Asia is projected to
steadily increase from 7% in 2015 to 7.6 % by
2017.
With the region’s rapid economic expansion and
a consistently increasing population, however,
comes a growing concern about South Asia’s
energy security.
South Asia’s challenges in energy supply have
been manifesting in the past several years. In
India, for instance, energy shortfall during peak
hours has been estimated at 10%. In Pakistan,
which has seen several bouts with energy
shortage since 2007, energy demand has been
precariously escalating so the country’s energy
requirements are estimated to rise to up to a
staggering 50,000 MW in 2030. In Bangladesh,
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only 30% of rural households have access to the
national electricity grid, and about half of the total
population still lives in the dark. Nepal has been
grappling with power outages of about 20 hours
during the dry season.
Despite the region’s observed challenges in
energy supply, South Asia, in fact, possesses a
huge diversity of energy resources, including oil,
gas, coal, hydro power, wind, and solar energy.
As a case-in point, India has oil resources with
a potential 5,576 million tons of oil equivalent.
Pakistan boasts of 3,600 million tons, while
Bangladesh has an estimated 0.96 million tons.
When it comes to gas resources, Afghanistan has
about 120 billion cubic meters, while Pakistan
possesses 7,985 billion cubic meters.
In recognition of the region’s pressing energy
supply concerns, governments in South Asia are
now working on long-term initiatives to capitalize
on their untapped natural energy resources,
diversify their energy sources and enhance intra-
regional energy trade.