Caspian Debt signs MoU with Water.org to promote the growth of WASH sector in India
Bangalore: Caspian Debt signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Water.org to promote the growth and development of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) ecosystem. Caspian Debt intends to deploy USD 10 million by 2028 for the WASH sector as they believe that the sector is currently underfunded and has immense potential for impact. The agreement increases the availability of funding for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the WASH sector. This investment is projected to benefit approximately 50,000 households.
The major area of collaboration between Caspian Debt and Water.org capitalizes on the knowledge and network support of each organization to catalyze the flow of credit to the WASH sector. With the support of Water.org, Caspian Debt plans to expand their funding pipeline of MSMEs/MFIs in the Water and Sanitation. Water.org will facilitate collaboration between Caspian Debt and banks, financial institutions, and multilateral agencies to access blended financing sources.
“Caspian Debt has been at the forefront of identifying new asset classes, and has been enabling credit to sectors like Food and AgriTech, Clean Technology and Ed-Tech. We aim to demonstrate that Water & Sanitation is a new credit worthy asset class and collaborating with Water.org is a great boost in that direction. With the combined strength of our institutions and networks, we intend to improve the flow of funds to the WASH sector. We look forward to working closely with Water.org team”, said Mr. Viswanatha Prasad, Managing Director- Caspian Debt.
Since 2005, Water.org has played a significant role in India’s progress toward improving water and sanitation, empowering more than 13.8 million people with access to safe water and sanitation. By partnering with different types of organizations; including microfinance institutions, self-help group federations, housing finance corporations, commercial banks, payment banks, social enterprises and the Government of India; Water.org is mobilizing resources and sharing knowledge to increase access to improved sanitation and safe water.
“Water.org pioneers market driven sustainable financial solutions to address the global water and sanitation crisis. Our technical assistance and capacity building support to financial institutions like MFIs, Banks, Self Help Group Promoting Institutions (SHPIs) has resulted in these institutions looking at WASH as one their mainstream product offerings to their customers. Our collaboration with Caspian strives to catalyze commercial capital into the WASH sector thereby providing complete impetus to rapid scaling of this sector in India.” said Mr. Manoj Gulati, Managing Director- Water.org India.
Through this collaboration, the WASH companies in the Caspian Debt portfolio will receive technical, monitoring, and evaluation support from Water.org team. Caspian Debt will also ensure that their WASH portfolio companies participate in the impact studies initiated by Water.org to improve the body of knowledge for the WASH sector.