Economic criteria shape investments in drinking-water supply systems and services. Yet, often they may be defined in a narrow sense and economic returns may be evaluated in strictly financial terms. The result is an emphasis on large, urban infrastructural works.

This paper makes an attempt to assess the water sector under scarcity conditions in the State of Rajasthan. It adopts the criteria of physical, economic, financial and equity performance across sub-sectors. The assessment brought out clearly that no indicator has shown satisfactory performance in any of the sub-sectors.