Manthan Adhyayan Kendra

The 2400 MW Koradi and 1340 MW Khaparkheda thermal power plants, both just outside Nagpur city, in Maharashtra have been important for the Maharashtra State Power Generation Company (MAHAGENCO) in meeting its goal of providing adequate power to the state.

In 2016, 106 rivers or river stretches were declared as national inland waterways, and the development of many of these new waterways along with the already existing ones was prioritized for large scale commercial navigation and shipping.

The bad track record of the public sector to provide water has increasingly led to private sector participation in water supply system. The proponents of privatization state that private sector would increase efficiency, bring adequate finance and help build the infrastructure that is required to run the utilities properly in an effective manner.

This document is a compilation on private hydro electric projects by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra. It provides information on various ongoing hydro electric projects in different states as per September 2012.

This report by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra discusses the concerns around the private water supply augmentation project in Khandwa town in Madhya Pradesh under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT), a Government of India scheme for infrastructure development in small and medium town. 

Khandwa is the first town in Madhya Pradesh to execute a private water project under this scheme, hence the findings of this project would be important for other towns as well which are looking for implementing private water projects under UIDSSMT.

This report basically focuses on the issues related to the new private water supply augmentation project from Chhoti Tawa, a tributary of Narmada River, and a part of the backwaters of Indira Sagar Project on Narmada. It gives a brief picture of the existing water supply system in Khandwa. It also discusses in details the impacts of the new private water supply project and question marks on the project efficacy.The report looks into the alternative systems that could have been operated instead of the current private, long distance and expensive project.

The database has been developed as a part of Manthan Adhyayan Kendra's engagement in comprehensive monitoring, research and analysis of policies, programs and projects relating to privatisation/commercialisation of water sector. 

This policy brief, prepared by Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, provides a bird’s eye view of the privatisation and reforms processes in the country.

About the Book –

Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are supposed to provide solutions to many of the existing problems related to infrastructure projects – in both execution and operation. Currently, there are PPP projects in almost all the sectors including roads, ports, airports, water, sewerage, solid waste management and transport among others. It is, therefore, important to do a reality check on PPP projects and their efficacy in addressing the problems faced by the public sector water supply services and other infrastructure sectors as well.

The report looks at various aspects of PPPs, beginning from why PPPs have come to be regarded as the major approach for infrastructure development in the country, the circumstances that lead to the change in approach from direct privatisation to public-private partnerships, the current status of the PPP projects that are being executed in India, especially in the water sector, to the current estimates and projections of investment requirements for infrastructure development in India by governments and International Financial Institutions (IFIs).