By 1989 the government of India had completed work on the Singur Dam in Andhra Pradesh.

The dam later became part of the World Bank-supported Hyderabad Water Supply and Sanitation Project. The reservoir created by the dam provided much-needed irrigation water, electric power, and drinking water. However, because of the dam construction, thousands of people had to relocate, and therefore lost their livelihoods. The Hyderabad Water Supply and Sanitation Project extended its coverage to the resettlement and rehabilitation of people displaced by the rising water. The project helped relocate 3,600 households and identified 4,600 families that required assistance to reestablish their economic productivity.

A local nongovernmental organization assisting with the economic rehabilitation helped determine the needs of villagers, and identified potential economic resources in each village. This resulted in the identification of a range of employment options. Entrepreneurs who had moved to the area were offered support in exchange for hiring villagers.

Project benefits were supplemented with ongoing district-level development resources, which were leveraged through the Office of the District Administration. The District collector ensured that objectives were being met, and helped integrate residents who had not been directly affected by the damıs construction. This inclusionary measure helped narrow the differences between those who did and did not receive benefits, and went a long way toward ensuring the projectıs success in villagers' eyes.

When presented with a base grant (equivalent to a year's income) and a choice of options, many of the villagers, who were herders and weavers before resettlement, opted to use subsidized bank loans to invest in intensified agriculture, housing improvements, and better livestock development.