World Bank2014-06-252014-06-252014-01https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18738India is home to more than 370 million people in urban areas. No city in the country meets the government's targets for continuous pressurized safe water with full coverage and full cost recovery. Groundwater sources are also being depleted putting severe constraints on economic development. To make up for unreliable services, households have invested significantly in alternate arrangements over the past three decades. Reliable estimates of asset condition and performance in Indian cities are difficult to establish, given the poor culture of documentation, data collection, and reporting. Data drawn from several benchmarking initiatives indicate the following: service delivery parameters are well below established norms, with coverage through piped water supply ranging between 55 percent and 89 percent, and while per capita availability is fairly high, at 90-120 liters per day, no city offers continuous water supply. Daily supply averages four hours, with many cities alternating supply every other day. These challenges occur in a context of limited data or data management capability and largely unknown conditions of existing assets, which present difficulties in assessing the costs and timelines involved in improving service levels and operational efficiencies. Moreover, the investments required are likely to be significant, particularly since most cities have seen little systematic investment in asset management and expansion over the years. Simultaneously, it is recognized that investments alone will not be effective in the context of 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 sustainabilityen-USCC BY 3.0 IGOADEQUATE WATERASSET MANAGEMENTAUGMENTATIONBASE PRICEBASE TARIFFBOTBUILD-OWNBULK SUPPLYBULK WATERBULK WATER SUPPLYCAPITAL COSTSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL INVESTMENTSCITY COUNCILCIVIL SOCIETYCOLLECTION EFFICIENCYCOLLECTION SYSTEMSCOMPANYCOMPETITIVE BIDDINGCONCESSION AGREEMENTCONCESSION CONTRACTCONCESSION PERIODCONSTRUCTIONCONSTRUCTION STAGECONTINUITY OF SUPPLYCONTRACT AWARDCONTRACT DESIGNCONTRACT DURATIONCONTRACT INTERPRETATIONCONTRACT MANAGEMENTCONTRACT PERIODCONTRACT SUPERVISIONCORPORATIONCOST RECOVERYCOST RECOVERY LEVELSCOVERINGCUBIC METERCUSTOMER SERVICEDECISION MAKINGDEMANDS FOR WATERDESALINATIONDISPUTE RESOLUTIONDISTRIBUTION OF WATERDISTRIBUTION SYSTEMDOMESTIC CONSUMERSDRAINAGEDRINKING WATERELECTRICITY CONSUMPTIONEMPLOYMENTENGINEERINGEXPANSIONFINANCIAL VIABILITYFIXATIONGROUNDWATERGROUNDWATER RESOURCESGROUNDWATER SOURCESHIGH LEVELSHOUSEHOLDSILLEGAL CONNECTIONSINDEPENDENT REGULATORINDUSTRIAL WATERINDUSTRIAL WATER SUPPLYINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINVESTMENT PROGRAMINVESTMENT REQUIREMENTSIRRIGATIONJOINT VENTURESLARGE CITIESLENDERSLITERS PER CAPITA PER DAYLITRES PER DAYLOCALITIESMAINTENANCE ACTIVITIESMAINTENANCE COSTSMEDIUM TOWNSMETERINGMUNICIPAL CONTROLMUNICIPAL COUNCILNONREVENUE WATEROPERATIONAL EFFICIENCYOUTSOURCING OF OPERATIONSPERFORMANCE CONTRACTPERFORMANCE INDICATORSPIPEPIPED WATERPIPELINEPIPELINESPOOR CONSUMERSPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOWER CONSUMPTIONPOWER UTILITYPRESSUREPRIVATE FINANCEPRIVATE FINANCINGPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE OPERATORPRIVATE OPERATORSPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPPRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSPRIVATE SECTOR INVESTMENTPRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENTPRIVATE SECTOR INVOLVEMENT IN WATERPRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATIONPRIVATE WATERPRIVATE WATER OPERATORSPRIVATE WATER SUPPLYPUBLIC AGENCIESPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC SECTOR OFFICIALSPUBLIC UTILITIESPUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPSPUMPINGPUMPING MACHINERYRAW WATERREGULATORY FRAMEWORKREGULATORY FRAMEWORKSRESERVOIRSSAFE WATERSANITATIONSERVICE CONNECTIONSSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE IMPROVEMENTSERVICE IMPROVEMENTSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE RESERVOIRSSERVICE STANDARDSSHAREHOLDERSSLUMSSUPPLY OF WATERSURFACE WATERSUSTAINABLE SERVICE DELIVERYTARIFF ADJUSTMENTSTARIFF REVISIONSTARIFF SETTINGTARIFF STRUCTURETECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOWNTREATMENT PLANTSURBAN AREASURBAN WATERURBAN WATER SUPPLYURBAN WATER UTILITIESUTILITIESUTILITY OPERATIONSUTILITY STAFFVENDORSVOLUME OF WATERWASTEWATERWATER AVAILABILITYWATER BEINGWATER CONNECTIONWATER CONNECTIONSWATER CONSUMPTIONWATER DISTRIBUTIONWATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMWATER LOSSESWATER NETWORKSWATER OPERATORSWATER PROJECTSWATER QUALITYWATER RESOURCESWATER SECTORWATER SHORTAGEWATER SHORTAGESWATER SOURCEWATER SOURCESWATER SUPPLYWATER SUPPLY CHAINWATER SUPPLY INFRASTRUCTUREWATER SUPPLY PROJECTSWATER SUPPLY SERVICESWATER SUPPLY SYSTEMWATER SUPPLY SYSTEMSWATER TARIFFWATER TARIFFSWATER TREATMENTWATER TREATMENT PLANTSWATER USERWATER USER COMMITTEESWATER UTILITIESWELLS10.1596/18738