On August 14, 2017, 2030 WRG signed an MOU with the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation (MOWR), Government of India, to collaborate on sustainable water resources management.

The MOU builds upon 2030 WRG’s catalytic support for participatory project preparation on the first pilot wastewater treatment PPP for Mathura-Vrindavan under the national Clean Ganga initiative. That project has been taken forward through a formal mandate for the IFC PPP transaction advisory team, along with PPPs in two other cities of Haridwar and Varanasi, contributing to the speedily implementation of landmark innovative solutions for Ganga rejuvenation through World Bank Group collaboration.

A second area of ongoing collaboration between 2030 WRG and MOWR is the development of a blueprint for water accounting in India, in collaboration with India-EU Water Partnership (IEWP). Under this initiative, two thematic tracks have been operationalized, namely:

• Water efficiency, through remote sensing-based water accounting techniques, in partnership with IHE-Delft and International Water Management Institute (IWMI);
• Ganga water quality, in tandem with National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and GIZ, supporting capacity building, and the establishment of the data architecture and dashboards for decision-making linked to urban and industrial wastewater.

A third task force on blended finance models for water security solutions is under development with OECD and IEWP, targeting an assessment of current utilization of public sector funds for water resources management and identifying opportunities for crowding in private sector funding.

In addition to the above areas of support, the MOU aims at strengthening water governance and catalyzing large-scale programmatic initiatives through multi-stakeholder approaches.