Pakistan and Nepal have the potential to meet the energy needs of the entire South Asian region by developing their enormous coal and hydro reserves, but due to financial constraints, they could not tap this potential and South Asian countries should join hands to exploit these reserves for their collective benefit.

This was observed by Zahid Maqbool, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) while presiding over a meeting of ICCI Sub Committee on Energy. He said sustainable economic development without consistent power supply is impossible in today’s dynamic world.

He said that all South Asian economies including Pakistan are confronted with a massive crisis of power shortage leading to excessive load shedding due to which their economies are badly suffering. However, they can overcome this problem if they agree to a single point agenda of utilizing untapped energy potential found in Pakistan and Nepal, he opined.

He said India with a 155,000 MW electricity generation capacity needs further 65,000 MW to accelerate economic growth. Pakistan with a production capacity of 19,600 MW is experiencing an average shortfall of 3500-4000 MW. Bangladesh produces 4148 MW while it needs additional 1352 MW and Nepal produces 61,748 MW but it also needs 400 MW to end load shedding.

Zahid Maqbool said according to the Geological Survey of Pakistan (2005), Pakistan has huge coal reserves of about 185 billion tons bulk of which are located in Sindh. He said only Thar coal reportedly has the potential to produce 100,000 MW for 300 years, if utilized optimally. Similarly Nepal has the largest hydro power potential in South Asia as it possesses 83,000 MW of hydroelectric power potential.

He stressed that to exploit this massive energy potential coal and water in Pakistan and Nepal, South Asian countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh & Bhutan should pool their financial resources & technical expertise and start mega energy projects in Pakistan & Nepal and develop a consensus energy distribution formula for meeting their energy needs. He was of the view that if implemented, these ventures will greatly help in freeing South Asia from power shortages for good.

He said there are many examples of power sharing among countries of Africa, Latin America, Central Asia & South East Asia and South Asian countries should also take benefit from such arrangements.