The CII- Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre (CII - Godrej GBC), a division of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has entered into a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour of the State of Israel (MOITAL), here.
As part of the agreement, water management solutions and technologies would be exchanged between the two countries under the Israel NewTech programme, which provides water management solutions.
As Israel has been dealing with water-related issues for the last 40 years, it has the best expertise in water management and provides its technology to other countries, said Oded Distel, director of MOITAL.
Around 23,000 million litres per day (MLD) is generated in India as domestic waste water of which only 6,000 MLD is treated. On the other hand, the industrial waste water is around 13,000 MLD generated by 135,000 polluting industries. Of this, only 60 per cent (large and medium industries) is treated.
The total investment potential in the water management sector in India is around $49.07 billion. “The opportunities in the industrial sector, including chemical, engineering, automobile, pulp and paper sector, is around $10.77 million for water efficiency improvement,” S Raghupathy, executive director (CII-GBC), said.
If the country could tap 10 per cent of this potential, its economy would grow at a higher rate. Currently, the investment for water management hugely comes from the government sector, which is 55 per cent.
“There is a huge opportunity in the industry sector water effluent treatment plants, water recycling systems to recover chemicals and reduce water consumption,” he added.
Maheedhar Reddy, state minister for municipal administration and urban development, said, “During the last four years, over 126 water supply schemes have been taken up, which will add 1,223 MLD of water thereby increasing the average supply as per norms in urban areas.”
Andhra Pradesh, in association with the World Bank, has initiated a project called ‘AP municipal development project’ to provide financial support for water management programmes in the state, he added.
