ABSTRACT:
This paper analyses the research published in high-impact journals on the financial management of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects in India. Our purpose is to answer the following research questions: (a) Which specific financial viability challenges—such as revenue streams, risk allocation, and capital structure—are most critically analysed? (b) How are financial theories and models applied to assess and mitigate these viability risks in the Indian PPP context? (c) What are the predominant gaps in the current literature that indicate potential areas for further research? The methodology applied is a systematic bibliographic review of articles related to the research questions published from 2000 to 2023 in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Our findings show that while the causes of project failure (e.g., aggressive bidding, renegotiation, contract termination) are intensely studied, a significant gap remains in the development of robust, India-specific financial frameworks for ex-ante viability assessment. Furthermore, no consensus has been reached on a standardized model for evaluating the financial sustainability of PPPs across different infrastructure sectors in India.
This paper is structured as follows: Section 2 outlines the literature review methodology. Section 3 presents the findings and analysis, organized around the research questions. Section 4 discusses the implications of these findings and the identified research gaps. Finally, Section 5 concludes with recommendations for future research.

Keywords: Public-Private Partnership (PPP), Financial Viability, Infrastructure Projects, India, Research Gap, Financial Modelling, Risk Allocation, Project Finance