| Abstract | Adopting a life‐cycle costs approach (LCCA) to the WASH sector could provide potential benefits
in terms of WASH services so that they are less prone to slippage, are better value for money,
and are more cost effective. The LCCA is flexible enough to be adapted to the WASH sector in a
service delivery context. The comprehensive nature of the cost and service level components
emphasises the importance of investments at various stages of a system's life‐cycle in sustaining
the services. This note provides an overview of the LCCA framework as developed by WASHCost
as well as its application to the WASH sector. Based on extensive data analysis at village and
household levels in Andhra Pradesh, it is argued that WASH policies should relook the way
norms are fixed and financial allocations are awarded to the sector. Although various
components of LCCA are not new to the Indian WASH sector, they are not fully considered when
budget allocations are decided on. The Government's new drinking water guidelines, suggest
indicative allocations to most of the cost components. WASHCost research in Andhra Pradesh
helps in arriving at the appropriate allocations for various components. The research
furthermore highlights the importance of capital maintenance expenditures (CapManEx) in the
provision of sustainable service delivery. Sustainable services need to be understood in a
broader context of access, quantity, quality, reliability and security |
