Reducing Poverty by Closing South Asia's Infrastructure Gap

Despite recent rapid growth and poverty reduction, the South Asia Region (SAR) continues to suffer from a combination of insufficient economic growth, slow urbanization, and huge infrastructure gaps that together could jeopardize future progress. It is also home to the largest pool of individuals living under the poverty line of any region, coupled with some of the fastest demographic growth rates of any region. Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people living on less than US$1.25 a day in South Asia decreased by only 18 percent, while the population grew by 42 percent. If South Asia hopes to meet its development goals and not risk slowing down, or even halting, growth and poverty alleviation, it is essential to make closing its huge infrastructure gap a priority. But the challenges on this front are monumental. Many people living in SAR remain unconnected to a reliable electrical grid, a safe water supply, sanitary sewerage disposal, and sound roads and transportation networks. This region requires significant infrastructure investment (roads, rails, power, water supply, sanitation, and telecommunications) not only to ensure basic service delivery and enhance the quality of life of its growing population, but also to avoid a possible binding constraint on economic growth owing to the substantial infrastructure gap.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Biller, Dan, Andrés, Luis, Herrera Dappe, Matías
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013-12
Subjects:	ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE, AGGLOMERATION, AIR, AIR POLLUTION, AIRPORTS, BARRIERS TO ENTRY, BASIC SERVICES, BOTTLENECKS, CASH TRANSFERS, CITIES, CLIMATE CHANGE, COMMUNITIES, CONCESSION, CONCESSIONS, COST RECOVERY, COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS, DEMAND FOR INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, DEREGULATION, DIESEL, DISTRIBUTION GRID, ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ELECTRICITY, ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION, ELECTRICITY GENERATION, ELECTRICITY SECTOR, ELECTRICITY SERVICES, ELECTRICITY SUPPLY, ENTRY BARRIERS, EXTERNALITIES, FINANCE INFRASTRUCTURE, FINANCIAL BURDEN, FREIGHT, FREIGHT TRANSPORT, FUELS, GASOLINE, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROWTH RATES, HUMAN CAPITAL, INFRASTRUCTURE ASSETS, INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT PROJECTS, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS, INFRASTRUCTURE POLICY, INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, INFRASTRUCTURE PROVISION, INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES, INFRASTRUCTURES, INSPECTION, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, INVESTMENT REQUIREMENTS, INVESTMENT TARGETS, LEASE CONTRACT, LEASE CONTRACTS, LENGTH OF ROAD, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, MAINTENANCE COSTS, MAINTENANCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE, NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS, NATIONAL TRANSPORT, NATURAL MONOPOLY, NETWORK EXTERNALITIES, NETWORK PLANNING, NETWORK SERVICES, PETROLEUM GAS, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POWER, POWER DISTRIBUTION, POWER PLANTS, POWER SECTOR, PRIVATE INVESTOR, PRIVATE OPERATORS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENT, PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION, PUBLIC, PUBLIC INVESTMENTS, PUBLIC RESOURCES, PUBLIC SAFETY, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SECTOR INVESTMENT, PUBLIC SERVICES, PUBLIC UTILITIES, PUBLIC WORKS, RAIL, RAILWAYS, REGIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE, REGULATORY FRAMEWORK, ROAD, ROAD MAINTENANCE, ROAD NETWORK, ROAD NETWORKS, ROAD SECTOR, ROADS, SAFE WATER SUPPLY, SANITATION, SANITATION SERVICES, SERVICE EXPANSION, SERVICE LEVELS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, SOCIAL WELFARE, SOLID WASTE COLLECTION, STATE HIGHWAYS, SUBDIVISIONS, TAX, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRANSPORT, TRANSPORT ACCESS, TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT SECTOR, TRANSPORT SERVICES, TRANSPORTATION, TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT, TRANSPORTATION NETWORKS, TRUE, URBAN HIGHWAY, URBAN POOR, URBANIZATION, USER FEES, WASTE, WASTE COLLECTION, WATER SERVICES,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/12/19330904/reducing-poverty-closing-south-asias-infrastructure-gap https://hdl.handle.net/10986/17847
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