USAID Signs Agreement with India Infrastructure Initiative to Develop Urban Water and Sanitation Systems

NEW DELHI | August 29, 2007

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the India Infrastructure Initiative (III) signed a formal agreement of cooperation today for promoting development of new water and sanitation systems in cities across India through public-private partnerships. The agreement is aimed at improving basic services for urban dwellers including the poor.

Signing the agreement on behalf of USAID, George Deikun, USAID Mission Director said “Infrastructure is perhaps the area in India’s strategic reform that has the greatest potential for affecting every area of India’s economy. In building world-class infrastructure in India, it is to the government’s advantage to engage the private sector, and where appropriate, involve them in the design, financing, and operation of infrastructure services”.

Dr. Rajiv Lall, Managing Director and CEO of the Infrastructure Development Finance Company and Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman of Feedback Ventures signed on behalf of India Infrastructure Initiative, a trust with the objective of developing infrastructure projects attractive to private investors.

Dr. Lall added, “Creating sustainable public-private projects in urban water and sanitation is an exciting new step for the India Infrastructure Initiative. With the engineering and project development skills that Feedback Ventures and Infrastructure Development Finance Company together bring, I’m sure that our partnership with USAID will benefit many towns and municipalities in the country.”

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