The World Bank has been promoting the public-private partnership model based on management contracts in developing countries. In such contracts, all the risks are borne by the government while the companies do not invest a penny. Investment and expenditure becomes the responsibility of the government, and the companies only provide "super managers", with complete control over the management, finances and assets of the utility and get a fat annual fee. The adoption of the same model by the Delhi government for pursuing reforms in the water sector was met by protests. The now on-hold Delhi project is worth examining in some detail for the lessons it can teach us.