Given the fact that the total investment over the last twenty year period is approximately one-tenth of that required, PPP needs to be considered as one of the key strategies to increase investment in the sector.
Further, the implementation of projects on PPP basis in cities such as Nagpur, Hubli Dharwad, Navi Mumbai have been able to demonstrate excellent service outcomes such as round the clock supply and lower incidence of diseases without significant increase in cost to the consumer.
Speaking at a workshop on Making Water & Solid Waste Management Sectors Investor Friendly in New Delhi, he said that it is equally important to prioritize wastewater management. He stated that one of the key objectives of JNNURM Phase-II would be to mainstream PPP Models.
The minister said that there is also a proposal to launch an urban infrastructure fund for PPP with German collaboration, the corpus of which is expected to be 200 million Euros. He said that the pressure in percentage terms is more in smaller Municipal Corporations than in larger ones and therefore, it was imperative that special attention is given to smaller cities.
The Minister also highlighted the need for reforms and capacity building in urban local bodies and water and sanitation utilities.
editor@greentechlead.com