ISLAMABAD: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has approved $240 million in funding for the second phase of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP).

The new phase will increase water availability, improve the safety of water and sewerage services in Karachi, and improve the financial and operational performance of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC).

The project will deepen the reforms undertaken under the project’s first phase and significantly scale up the infrastructure investments to improve water supply and sewerage services in Karachi. Under the first phase, the AIIB provided $40m for the project.

The investments in rehabilitating existing infrastructure and constructing new infrastructure will enhance the development impacts by reaching more beneficiaries and building support for the continued mainstreaming of operational reforms and new investments.

The project, approved last week, aims to provide 16m people with safely managed water and 10.4m with safely managed sanitation by 2030.

Co-financed by the World Bank, which acts as the lead financier, the project’s environmental and social impacts have been assessed under the AIIB’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF).

The ESF ensures that project implementation complies with international environmental and social safeguards.

The project aims to address three structural challenges in Karachi’s water and sanitation system: the overall shortfall in water supply, low water quality and the lack of sewage treatment capacity.

Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2025