challenges in expanding water access via watercredit_nayakam _2013

Avudai Nayakam S

Senior Watsan Officer, Water.org

19-02-2013Stakeholder Forum 2013 2

783M people have lack of access to safe and clean water

2.5B people have lack of improved sanitation and 1.1 billion still practice open defecation

3.4M people die thru WASH related causes

200M hours spent for collection of water everyday

152M hours of women and girls' time consumed for basic human needs

443M school days lost each year due to water-related illness


Access to Improved Drinking Water coverage in urban and rural scenario (2010)

Source: WHO-UNICEF (2010)

GW – largest consumer in the world, 90% of rural water supply from GW sources

By 2030, the urban areas will be home to 40 percent of the country’s people – doubling the urban population within a span of thirty years.


Source: UNICEF/UN/FAO


Technical issues

Social issues

Political issues

Financial issues

Environmental Issues

Watercredit related Issues


Decline in water resource availability Water supply ≠ water demand Water use inefficiency (conflicts in

agriculture, Industrial and Domestic sector) Decreasing water quality due to unprecedented

Urbanization and Industrialization Lack of Infrastructure facilities for piped water

network Leakages in piped water supply network and

Pilferages etc. Decline in water security

Drinking water source does not always follow the source sustainability plans


Income level variation and Social classification based on the accessibility to water resources

Wide differentiation in Society setup and disparity in water allocations (Heterogeneous group and Cultural Habits)

Lack of cooperation among the communities with officials/NGOs

Need for Gender sensitivity in water sector

Severe water shortages have led to a growing number of conflicts between users in the domestic, agricultural and industrial sectors

Lack of awareness on various aspects of Programmes and policies among line functionaries and people


Cooperation of Ruling governments in state and centre

Lack of appropriate policy framework and inadequate institutional reforms result in conflicts and rights issues

Political and policy issues bring forth: Problems in sharing water (Inter-state & between the countries)

Conflicts between domestic, agri and industrial users

Privatization of water - supplied at high cost

Political will and support


Availability of local funds and its allocation for various water use sectors

Availability of external aided funds for mega projects (Japan..)

Lack of ownership from community Institutions (meager contributions from community)

Need for more Public contribution and CSR involvement…

Insufficient funds for water infrastructures –Operation & Maintenance (‘build-neglect-rebuild’ syndrome)


The amount of rainfall is getting significantly less and erratic to recharge the aquifer than its withdrawal.

Erratic distribution of rainfall – leads to floods and droughts across the country;

Unregulated groundwater extraction;

Water pollution

Decreasing water quality due to poor solid and liquid waste management laws

Decline in natural resource--Climate Change


Recent RBI norms --75% for PSL

Bank lending to MFIs

Passing MFI Bill in the parliament

Each client can have 2 MFI loans and should not exceed an amount of INR 50,000

Customer retention

Water loans are not income generating but income saving


WaterCredit◦ 593,367 people served with safe water and sanitation with

WaterCredit loans◦ 102,148 WaterCredit loans◦ $6.4M in partner smart subsidies has leveraged an additional

$22M in commercial capital◦ Amount of WaterCredit loans disbursed to date: $17 million◦ 99% global repayment rate◦ Average loan size: $165◦ Demographics: 89% of borrowers are women◦ WaterCredit product types, at category level: Water loans: 40% Sanitation loans: 53% Water & Sanitation loans: 5% Other 2%


Total Population – 1220 Million (271.2M Household (HH) @4.5 person / HH)

Need of Piped water connections -65% (176.3M HH)

Assume 50% coverage = 88.2M HHAvg. loan size = INR 5000Total Demand = INR 4,400 Billion

(1 Billion = 100 Crores)


19-02-2013Courtesy- Heather Arney, water.org 18