Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company Limited (JUSCO) has bagged the Rs 152 crore six-year performance based water management contract for Mysore city.
JUSCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel, the flagship company of the Tata group. It is the Tata initiative in the emerging water sector in the country having the experience of managing water service in Jamshedpur city for over nine decades.
For the water management contract, the company has entered into the tripartite contract agreement with Mysore City Corporation (MCC) and Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) an agreement to this was signed on Tuesday at Mysore.
The water supply contract is to be executed through Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. The company’s all similar water supply projects till date have been pilot projects targeting part of the city (population of less than one lakh), whereas at Mysore it is a city-wide project, which will serve population of more than a million.
The project will enable equitable distribution of Cauvery water treated at Hongalli and Melapur treatment plants to the consumers through a network of about 1,200 kms from 28 small and large reservoirs, gradually increasing the hours of supply to 24 hours a day with service level guarantees commensurate with national and global benchmarks as stipulated in the contract agreement.
KUWSDB and MCC had called for bids in March this year and JUSCO has won the contract against stiff national and international competition from Larsen Toubro (L&T), Jain Irrigation Projects and the Joint Venture of Ranhill Utilities Berhad, Malaysia and SPML.
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The project will utilise the already sanctioned Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) funds (80 per cent of the project cost) for improving the water supply infrastructure in Mysore city. The balance funds is being provided equally by state government and MCC.
The water management project is expected to be completed in three phases spread over six years. The first phase of 12 months will involve complete hydraulic remodeling of the present system and preparation of capital investment plan.
In the second phase of three years, JUSCO will rehabilitate the distribution network to reduce water losses and gradually increase various service standards.
The third and final phase of two years will involve providing 24 hours water supply in the entire city ensuring sustainability of achieved service standards.
Mysore project is the third consecutive water project it has bagged - the other two are both built operate transfer (BOT) projects in Salt Lake Sector-V, Kolkata and the industrial city of Haldia.