Benchmarking has been conducted at the project level, as well as the Water Users Associations (WUAs) level, to explore

the significance of the latter. A major finding of this work is that even within an apparently efficient project, there lie pockets of inefficiencies, i.e. the overall project may seem to be performing well, but may still have some WUAs that perform relatively inefficiently, thus necessitating the need for benchmarking at the WUA level for all water resources projects, a policy that is non-existent currently. Other findings relate to the quantum of inefficiencies, possible savings, overstaffing, need for restructuring and reorganisation of WUA boundaries etc., all of which have been detailed in the book. The results have been discussed in the context of policy measures that would be of interest to Regulators, Policy-Makers, Project Managers and Engineers The work involved measuring project performance in terms of selected Performance Indicators and their integration into a scorecard. Since a simple comparison of indicators provides little information with regard to the overall performance of the project due to presence of multiplicity of indicators, a non-parametric Data Envelopment analysis (DEA) has also been employed by evolving relevant inputs and outputs. The methodology involves identification of appropriate DEA variables to explore benchmarks, compute the quantum of inefficiencies, and investigate the potential for efficient levels of input usage and hence the quantum of possible savings. The results have been discussed with regard to suggested policy measures that may lead to enhancement of Project performances of similar Irrigation projects. The concept of measurement of efficiencies of Irrigation distribution services has so far not been investigated in India. The present work explores and establishes the need for measurement of performances, and endeavors to develop two frameworks for exploring efficiencies and measuring performances. These frameworks are exemplified by a case study relating to the measurement of performances of a major irrigation and drainage project - the Samrat Ashok Sagar major irrigation cum flood protection project, constructed across river Halali, a tributary of Betwa River in Vidisha District of the State of Madhya Pradesh, India.