10% of water action plans of large cities should come from public-private partnerships: Official

New Delhi [India], November 24 : Highlighting the role of the private sector in water and sanitation, a top official of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on Wednesday said that 10 per cent of the water action plans of million-plus cities should come from public-private partnerships (PPPs).
The Toilet Board Coalition India on Wednesday organised Sustainable Urban WASH Forum on an action agenda on Private Sector and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH).
The forum brought together global companies, businesses, investors, and sanitation leaders from across India. The event was a platform for business, government, and societal leaders to learn about sanitation economy solutions for their sector, citizens, and development agendas.
Speaking at the forum, D Thara, Joint Secretary and Mission Director, AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, said, "It is very important for capacities in the private sector to be augmented for any mission to succeed. Under AMRUT 2, 10 per cent of the city water action plans of million-plus cities should be coming from public-private partnerships (PPPs). From now on, states should work towards reusing at least 20 per cent of the treated water."
She emphasised on a clear governance mechanism to be put in place for the private sector to come in. Thara said the government is focusing on getting 100 per cent water treated in 500 cities and ensuring that the untreated water does not enter water streams.
"The private sector can help cities in maximizing their outcomes through minimal infrastructure. AMRUT 2 acknowledges that capacity building in the private sector is a critical need compared to the public sector. We are going to come with an India water platform, unifying all stakeholders on a common platform. We are also developing an app called AMRUTAM where water connections entered by contractors will be eligible for verification and funding," said Thara.
Venugopal Gupta, Director Accelerator and Investor Engagement, the Toilet Board Coalition underlined the need for partnerships between SMEs and large corporates that can bring the best of innovation and scale and unlock systematic demand in attracting increased investor participation.
"The world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 of Clean Water and Sanitation - the progress is heartening but the pace needs to intensify. If this process needs to pick up pace, we will need a robust innovation pipeline, a friendly policy ecosystem, and widely accepted standards, as we see in our accelerator program," said Gupta.
Toilet Board Coalition members are engaged in building a thriving sanitation economy and WASH marketplace in India that provides safely managed sustainable sanitation services to those without.