AI Ready Intelligent Water Utilities

Basic Information

Region: South Asia

Country: India

Approval Year: 2025

Grant Year: Year 13

Sector: Water

Grant Status: Active

TTLs: Rochi Khemka, Senior Private Sector Specialist

Grant Activities

Project Summary:

The grant aims to strengthen the institutional readiness of water utilities in three cities — Bengaluru (India), Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Johannesburg (South Africa) — for AI-enabled water reuse and management. It seeks to catalyze private sector solutions, enhance climate resilience, and de-risk the adoption of AI technologies through knowledge transfer and practical implementation roadmaps.

It is organized into three activities:

  • AI Readiness Opportunity Assessment, producing a report identifying priority areas for AI-enabled water reuse in each city, alongside a case study on a Korean utility's AI adoption journey.
  • Utility-specific AI-readiness roadmaps covering infrastructure, institutional frameworks, and capacity needs, complemented by a report on Korean best practices.
  • Institutional capacity building, including training 30 utility staff in AI analytics and automation, and establishing "AI-4-Reuse" taskforces in each city to promote public-private collaboration.