Support Programme for Urban Reforms (SPUR)

Working with the Urban Development and Housing Department, Government of Bihar; targeting 28 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) covering 7.05 million urban population. The DFID supported ‘Support Programme for Urban Reforms’ (SPUR) in Bihar focused on economic growth and urban poverty reduction through improved economic attractiveness of project ULBs for private investments. The programme was implemented in 28 of the largest towns of Bihar that accounted for >60% of the urban population of the state. For ease of implementation, the towns were clustered into six groups each with five to six towns.  Following a  request from the government in 2012, technical support was extended to an additional 26 towns to include all the District Head Quarter towns – therefore, technical assistance was provided to 55 towns and technical and financial assistance to 29 of these 55 towns.