|
US Supported Public Private Partnership Improves
Tirupur Area Water Supply and Sanitation
February 7, 2006
 Chennai -- The United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) and a consortium
of companies have launched a unique project that is
helping thousands of people receive improved water
supply in Tamil Nadu. Ms Jayalalitha, the Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu, inaugurated a plaque
commemorating this project, in Chennai today. David
Hopper, US Consul General, Chennai, was present at
the event.
Mr. Hopper said: “The project is the first
public-private partnership in the water and
sanitation sector in South Asia to be implemented on
a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT) basis. It
represents a new approach to providing the much
needed environmental infrastructure in South Asia.”
The project, developed by the Government of
TamilNadu, Infrastructure Leasing & Financial
Services (ILFS) Ltd. and Tirupur Exporters
Association (TEA) with USAID assistance has improved
living standards of about 800,000 residents in
Tirupur town and its surrounding areas, which
includes 80,000 residents of slums. It has met the
growing demand of industrial users, increased the
supply of water to domestic consumers and provided
the town with its first sewerage system. The project
is providing 185 million liters of potable water per
day, obtained from Cauvery river, to Tirupur and its
environs and more than 600 textile firms in and
around the town. Water intake infrastructure, a
water treatment plant, water transmission and
distribution pipelines, a new sewage treatment
system and low cost sanitation for slum areas have
been built as part of the project.
While IDBI is the lead lender, USAID’s loan
guarantee to ILFS for $25 million in long-term
(30-year) financing allowed ILFS to borrow the same
from US financial markets and helped ensure the
undertaking’s financial viability. USAID has also
provided technical assistance for the project under
its Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion
program.
Tirupur, which is approximately 50 km east of
Coimbatore, has earned international recognition as
India's leading knitwear exports center and accounts
for about one billion U.S. dollars in earnings for
the country.
Photo Credit: M.C. Shrikant, New Tirupur Area
Development Corporation Ltd.
|
|
