The India Infrastructure Report (2011) brought out by the Infrastructure Development Finance Company focuses on 'water' and seeks to 'evolve an appropriate policy framework from the perspective of rights, entitlements, and conflict resolution mechanisms'. The report aims to answer the following questions:

• How clear is the strategic vision for water resource management and sustainable development?
• How effective and equitable is the legal framework?
• Given that only the supply-side approach will not help in meeting future demand, what legal, regulatory, institutional, and pricing mechanisms will be necessary to efficiently manage and restrain demand?

Authors Piyush Tiwari and Ajay Pandey begin the overview by illustrating the tenuous nature of India's water security in the face of rising demands and climate change. They explain that this insecurity is  aggravated by inefficiency in water use and irresponsibility in the management of water resources. Despite this, the government has largely focused on increasing supply with very little attention given either to demand management or operation and maintenance of created infrastructure. 

The report emphasizes the need to move away from the techno-centric and supply-based strategy used so far, towards one that includes efficient water use, appropriate water valuation, demande management, reduction of pollution and increasing water awareness.

Section I : Macro

1. A river basin perspective of water resources and challenges 

Anju Gaur and Priyanie Amerasinghe

2. Implications of climate change for water resources management 

P.P. Mujumdar

3. Opportunities for trans-boundary water sharing in the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, and the  Meghna basins 

Mashfi Us Salehin, M. Shah Alam Khan, Anjal Prakash, And Chanda Gurung Goodrich

4. A million revolts in the making: Understanding water conflicts 

Suhas Paranjape and K.J. Joy

5. Water rights and the ‘new’ water laws in India: Emerging issues and concerns in a rights based perspective 

Videh Upadhyay

Section II: Rural

6. Past, present, and the future of canal irrigation in India 

Tushaar Shah

7. Groundwater irrigation in India: Growth, challenges, and risks 

Vasant P. Gandhi and Vaibhav Bhamoriya

8. Rainwater harvesting for irrigation in India: potential, action, and performance 

Vasant P. Gandhi and Vaibhav Bhamoriya

9. Water management institutions for enhancing water and food security: Designing for better adaptiveness 

Vaibhav Bhamoriya and Vasant P. Gandhi

10. Evolving regulatory framework for rural drinking water: Need for further reforms 

Philippe Cullet

11. Changing waterscapes in the periphery: Understanding peri-urban water security in urbanizing India 

Anjal Prakash, Sreoshi Singh, and Vishal Narain

Section III: Urban

12. Provincial water access in China and India: A comparative assessment 

Fan Mingxuan and Bhanoji Rao

13. Review of reforms in urban water sector: Institutional and financial aspects 

Subodh Wagle, Pranjal Deekshit, and Tejas Pol

14. Addressing the challenge of financial sustainability in urban water supply services: Role of performance, monitoring, and planning 

Vandana Bhatnagar and S.R. Ramanujam

15. Private sector involvement in water 

Part I PPPs in the drinking water and irrigation sectors: A review of issues and options

V. Sathyanarayana and  D.T.V. Raghu Rama Swamy

Part II Water sector: A private equity perspective 

Prasad Gadkari and Shishir Maheshwari

16. Transforming water utilities: Policy imperatives for India 

Piyush Tiwari and Ranesh Nair

17. Water in cities: Rethinking services in transformation 

Marie-Hélène Zérah and Sylvy Jaglin

18. Industrial water demand in India: Challenges and implications for water pricing 

Suresh Chand Aggarwal and Surender Kumar

Section IV: Wastewater

19. Water pollution in India: an economic appraisal 

M.N. Murty and Surender Kumar

20. Municipal wastewater management in India 

J.S. Kamyotra and R.M. Bhardwaj

21. The economics of municipal sewage water recycling and reuse in India 

Pritika Hingorani

Section V: Water valuation and institution

22. Water sector reforms: implications on empowerment and equity 

Sachin Warghade and Subodh Wagle

23. Pricing the ‘fluid mosaic’: Integrated ‘inclusive valuation’ of water from the scarcity value perspective 

Nilanjan Ghosh and Sarika Rachuri

24. Pricing urban water: a marginal cost approach 

Kala Seetharam Sridhar and Om Prakash Mathur

25. Dams and environmental governance in north-east India 

Neeraj Vagholikar

26. Evaluation of national water mission using global water partnership toolbox 

Suman Apparusu

Section VI: infrastructure review

27. The infrastructure sector in India 2010–11 

Manisha Gulati