Running Water in India's Cities : A Review of Five Recent Public-Private Partnership Initiatives
India is home to more than 370 million people in urban areas. Historically, almost all water supply provision has been managed by the public sector through municipal or state-level departments or parastatals. Benchmarking initiatives show that cove...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/18882071/running-water-indias-cities-review-five-recent-public-private-partnership-initiatives http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17747 |
| Summary: | India is home to more than 370 million
people in urban areas. Historically, almost all water supply
provision has been managed by the public sector through
municipal or state-level departments or parastatals.
Benchmarking initiatives show that coverage through piped
water supply ranges between 55 percent and 89 percent in
urban areas. Per capita availability is fairly high, at 90
to 120 liters per day, but no city yet offers continuous
water supply. Daily supply averages four hours, with many
cities alternating supply every other day. These challenges
occur in a context of weak management systems and little
data on existing assets, which makes it difficult to assess
investment needs and time lines to improve service levels
and operational efficiencies. While investment requirements
are likely to be significant, it is recognized that
investments alone will not be effective unless the country
simultaneously addresses related issues such as complex and
fragmented institutions with little accountability; lack of
capacity to run utilities efficiently and meet performance
standards; weak commercial orientation; interference in
utility operations by external entities; and the absence of
a regulatory framework focused on customer service and
financial sustainability. In response to social issues, all
contracts have proactively provided for service delivery
options to consumers as well as tariff concessions (bulk
supply to poor neighborhoods, fortnightly payment options,
special tariff for group connections, and so forth). It will
also be useful to explicitly state the subsidy that the city
will bear for connecting poor consumers to the network.
Explicit arrangements in the contract will allay
apprehensions of urban poor as well as encourage the
operator to connect the poor. |
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