India Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion–Debt and Infrastructure (FIRE-D Ex-Post Evaluation)

Rapid urbanization in resource-constrained countries like India places massive pressures on infrastructure, and long-term solutions are needed to meet growing safe water and sanitation (WatSan) demand. USAID has invested in urban WatSan activities across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East that aim to address these needs, but there is seldom opportunity to validate whether its approaches yielded sustainable outcomes.

This report details findings from an ex-post evaluation that examines the longterm outcomes of USAID’s Financial Institutions Reform and Expansion–Debt and Infrastructure (FIRE-D) activity in India seven years after its close. (USAID funded the FIRE-D activity over three phases from 1994 to 2011). It identifies the long-term value of various governance and financial reforms as well as efforts to expand market-based WatSan financing. These findings are meant to inform USAID activity design improvements in India and other urban water, sanitation, and hygiene contexts.

• Download the evaluation
• Read the evaluation brief
• Read the executive summary (Hindi)
• Read the blog
• View the webinar