Source: @paullewismoney via  twitter

There has been a widespread push towards privatisation of water supply especially in urban areas. In India, attempts to privatise haven't worked and I haven't heard of any plans in the recent past (fortunate or unfortunate - only time can tell).  But came across this a year old piece:  England's privatised water firms paid £57bn in dividends since 1991  while amassing almost an equal amount of debt - effectively taking loans to pay dividends. And this happened in the UK, a country that has a strong regulator.

In India, private sector participation is being encouraged in the FSM space and there is interest in providing emptying services and operating treatment plants. Lessons from regulating them will hopefully emerge gradually. Not sure however if it makes sense to push for privatisation in countries of the Global South where there are no regulators and certainly the culture of regulation is poor and often  regulatory institutions toothless. 

I'd like to learn about experiences (good and bad) about privatisation and regulation of services. Request to share your experiences and relevant references.

Regards
paresh