ICLEI South Asia provided technical support to the Global Infrastructure Basel to develop a project preparation checklist tool – “Preparation of Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Projects”, that would enable cities to consider aspects of sustainability and resilience while preparing a project proposal for investment. It will help cities track project progress by monitoring achievement of milestones, including project preparation, structuring, achieving bankability, accessing finance and finally implementing the project. Jaipur, Ujjain and Gwalior cities were trained in the use of this tool and engaged in a dialogue with GIB and ICLEI South Asia on the need for and means to ensure sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

This task was accomplished in the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation funded project, ‘Capacity Building India Supporting Sustainable, Resilient and Climate Sensitive Infrastructure Development in India’.

In addition to this tool, the three cities were also trained in the use of the SmartScan tool, developed by GIB. The North South Metro Project of Jaipur, Ujjain’s Smart City Mahakaal and sewerage project, and Gwalior’s water supply projects were assessed for their Environmental, Social and Governance benefits, using this tool. Inherent risks were identified and opportunities for improvement were suggested based on this assessment. This tool can analyse ESG aspects of projects across 14 different themes. The assessment results in not only indicating scope for improvement, but also results in the identification of specific strategies and measures to ensure ESG compliance.

These 3 projects were also presented to potential financiers and funding institutions such as India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IFCL) and State Bank of India (SBI) to name a few.

One of the main outcomes of the project is enhanced technical understanding of city governments and local stakeholders on preparing infrastructure development projects that also consider principles of resilience and sustainability. Activities under this project helped cities to identify and eliminate risks and improve ESG aspects of assessed projects; ESG impacts of projects are increasingly important considerations that influence investment decisions.