Government alone will be incapacitated to meet the water challenges associated with the changing scenario of growing population and demographic changes, demand for sustainable socio-economic growth and uncertainty of weather with onset of climate change. Inadequate water infrastructure is a huge constraint on socio-economic development, attaining food sufficiency and improving health and sanitation issues in India. Existing water infrastructure especially irrigation system is often marred by poor performance, improper operation and maintenance, inadequate to meet demand, low quality or reliability and many areas are simply un-served. As per certain estimate, the population of the country is expected to stabilize by 2050 at 1640 million. To feed population of that order, 450 million tons of food grain will be required and consequently 145 million hectares of irrigation. So far around 108 million hectares of irrigation potential has been created through major, medium and minor irrigation projects. However, various studies indicate that the created irrigation potential has not been fully utilized. It is observed that the gap between the irrigation potential created (IPC) and the irrigation potential utilized (IPU) has widened considerably and now it is of the order of 20%. Water Use Efficiency (WUE) study reports of various projects indicate that efficiency of irrigation projects are on extremely lower side. Various reasons have been attributed to poor WUE and IPC-IPU Gap and some of these are (i) damaged structures, (ii) silting in the canal systems, (iii) poor maintenance of the structure, (iv) seepage from the system, (v) incomplete distribution system and (vi) non-completion of command area development. Redressal of above requires a holistic reform process coupled with an integrated water resources management framework wherein participation of major stakeholders is a key factor. Participation of private entities by means of Public Private Partnership (PPP) can bring desired impetus in attending invasive irrigation challenges of the country. PPP can be defined as a long-term contract between a private party and a government agency, for providing a public asset or service, in which the private party bears significant risk and management responsibility (PPP Reference Guidelines, World Bank 2012). PPP can be very instrumental in mobilizing additional sources of funding and financing for infrastructure. In PPP model, generally delivery of projects and services are the main responsibility of private sector whereas Government acts as a facilitator in the entire endeavour. Therefore, both risk and accountability are shared between Government and private sector. PPP in irrigation sector has been successfully implemented in France, Morocco, Egypt and many other countries. It has also been witnessed that PPP can help in improving project and service delivery, operation and maintenance of irrigation system. Since market economics and its dynamics are associated with the projects executed under PPP mode, it leads to better utilization of funds supported by various innovations. In the wake of liberalization of the Indian economy, initial attempts to involve the private sector as an instrument of government policy in infrastructure service provision were made in the early 1990s. Since then, India has successfully experimented PPP model in many sectors. Though, there have been no example of PPP model in irrigation sector on a long term basis, State Governments of Maharashtra, erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh are exploring PPP as a potential tool for development and management of Irrigation system. This paper explores various PPP models and its scope for application in Indian scenario for improved management of irrigation system.
Public, Private, Partnership, Sustainable Development, Water Infrastructure
