Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion - Debt Market

The USAID-funded Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion III - Debt Market [FIRE III (D)] Project works at the central, state, and local levels to mobilize market financing and to increase private sector involvement in the delivery of water, wastewater, and solid waste infrastructure, thereby improving the coverage and quality of environmental services in Indian cities. Since the late 1990s, AECOM International Development and its partner TCGI have succeeded in creating an enabling environment for improved service delivery and in demonstrating the value of improved approaches through pilot projects at the state and municipal levels. The project has contributed directly to the current widespread acceptance of the principle of commercial viability (bankable project development) in the delivery of urban infrastructure services, an improved policy framework for service provision, a structure for municipalities to access domestic capital markets through municipal bonds, municipal financial management reforms, and an institutional structure for sharing lessons learned from pilot initiatives.