_Table 1. Preliminary_ _<u>proposed selection criteria</u>_

||SEI|FEI|
|---|---|---|
|‒|Beneficiaries/Users per $ invested|‒<br>Benefit‐cost ratio|
|‒|Jobs created (direct and indirect)|‒<br>Existing water resource yield|
|‒|Poverty level (in area of intervention)||
|‒|Quality of existing water||
|‒|Water‐borne diseases||
|‒|Alternative water resources||

The IPF requires a minimum level of relevant information at the project level to compare infrastructure projects. Therefore, the aim is not to produce a long list of criteria, but to carefully select those that would be most effective in capturing the key differentiating factors among the projects. The selection of variables may differ based on government policy goals (e.g., sectorial, social, and environmental aims) and stakeholder consultations, but generally includes indicators of value, efficiency, and social and environmental impact.

It is also essential that the selected criteria make it possible to discern between projects with some degree of precision and exhibit sufficient variability (for each decision criterion) to allow distinction between projects or groups of projects. In other words, a criterion with little to no variability across projects is not useful to any prioritization strategy.

4.1.2. Step 2: Data Consolidation and Preparation The next step is to define the set of projects and consolidate the information at the project level. An initial list of 27 projects corresponding to project proposals that NPD received from the National Water Supply and Drainage Board (NWSDB) and several from the Megapolis Master Plan was considered.<sup>7</sup> From this list, two projects pertaining to the construction of new water reservoirs were removed from consideration, as the nature of these projects was quite different to other water supply projects. Two other projects were discarded, as they were in very early stages of preparation and hence did not have sufficient information. In addition, one project was also excluded since it went under procurement at the time of this analysis. Lastly, six new projects from the Public Investment Program (2016‐2020) were added to the final list of projects, taking the total project count to 28.

The subsequent step is to gather the data to calculate the indicators that would comprise the SEI and FEI scores for each project. Project data were entered into a simple Excel

> 7 The Western Region Megapolis project (or Megapolis Master Plan) has a list of 171 projects with a total investment of approximately US$40 billion. The projects under this list incorporate Transport, Energy, Water, Housing, Townships, Environment and waste management, Port, Airport, Logistics and tourism related projects confined mostly to the western region. The transport component of the Megapolis plan has been developed by using the Urban Transport Master Plan for the Colombo Metropolitan region together with the land use plan based on the developments envisaged under the Megapolis. Similarly, the Water projects identified under the Megapolis plan is a collection of investments identified by the NWSDB, enhanced by the requirements of the land use planning such as the "aero city", "industrial city", "techno city", etc.

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