Private infrastructure investment dips in South Asia: WB

South Asia closed 43 deals in 2015 for a combined total of $5.6 billion, a decline of 82 percent from the five-year average of $30.5 billion, according to the World Bank.

Consistent with historical trends, India generated a majority of the projects (36 out of 43); Pakistan had four; Nepal, two; and Bangladesh, one, according to new data from the World Bank Group's Private Participation in Infrastructure Database released yesterday. The deals in South Asia represent 5 percent of the total investment.

However, the WB report did not give details on which project the investment was made in Bangladesh.

The database is the leading global source of data on trends in the developing world, covering infrastructure projects in the energy, transport, and water and sewerage sectors.

Covering the period from 1990 to 2015, the database reviews over 8,000 projects across 139 low- and middle-income economies and provides a rich source of data on private infrastructure investment in emerging markets.

The five countries with the highest investment in 2015 were Turkey, Colombia, Peru, the Philippines and Brazil.

The countries together attracted $74 billion, capturing 66 percent of global commitments in the developing world in 2015.

Global private infrastructure investment in 2015 mostly remained steady at $111.6 billion because of surging investment in Turkey.

Turkey enjoyed a banner year in 2015, with financial closings on seven projects totalling $44.7 billion.

Istanbul's $35.6 billion IGA Airport (including a $29.1 billion concession fee to the government) and the $6.4 billion Gebze-Izmir Motorway led the charge.

Though on par with the previous year, global private infrastructure investment in 2015 was 10 percent lower than the previous five-year average because of dwindling commitments in China, Brazil, and India.

India recorded a 10-year low in investments, as only six road projects -- usually a rich source of PPI over the past ten years -- reached financial closure.

Investment commitments in solar energy in 2015 swelled to $9.4 billion -- 72 percent higher than the five-year average of $5.4 billion.

While solar comprised one-quarter of all energy investments, renewables on the whole made up 63 percent of all energy commitments in 2015, surpassing the five-year average of 44 percent and ten-year average of 37 percent.

The most popular non-renewable source was coal at 19 percent of the total energy investments.