Abstract
In May 2017, some 1,200 delegates from 110 countries, including 29 visiting heads of state and government leaders, gathered in Beijing for China’s biggest diplomatic event, which was held to showcase the Belt and Road Initiative’s (BRI) achievements to date, as well as draft some new ideas. The forum also formalised the US$50 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the BRI, projecting it as a game-changer for Pakistan’s economy. Pakistani officials have stated that once the projects are launched, it could see Pakistan’s flagging economy, burdened with a debt that constituted 66.5 per cent of its GDP in 2016, grow at 6–7 per cent per annum from the current 5.3 per cent. But more importantly, that energy plays a central role in the CPEC project is evident from the fact that out of a total fund allocation of around US$50 billion, US$35 billion has been allocated for energy projects. This is hardly surprising, given that Pakistan faced more than 40 per cent gap in electricity demand and generation. While demand during the peak summer months is around 24,000 MW, power generation is less than 1,600 MW, with some regions suffering from 20–22 hours of power cuts every day.
The energy projects, along with other infrastructure, Gwadar and industry development projects, have been categorised under four phases: ‘Early Harvest’ (priority) energy projects are to be completed by 2018; the short-term projects, or the actively promoted projects, are to be completed by 2020–2023; the medium-term ones by 2025; and the long-term projects are to be completed by 2030. However, there appears to be considerable opacity regarding which projects are viable and which need to be shelved or revised. Moreover, the timelines of some of the projects have also been changed.
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