Water. Desalination + reuse
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verse osmosis facilities (SWROs) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu's capi- tal. They are highly subsidised by the government. The eco- nomic feasibility of desalination projects remains a concern for a number of authorities in India. "Most large municipalities have failed to opt for desalina- tion because transporting fresh water from as far as 150km is more economic. Municipal water tari… s remain very low owing to an absence of economic regula- tion which seriously impacts municipalities' operational cash† ow and therefore their ability to choose desalination," explains Asian Development Bank principal urban develop- ment specialist Jingmin Huang. One exception is Chennai MetroWater, which is develop- ing two SWROs, one of 150,000 m3/d and the other 400,000 m3/d. The municipality's strat- egy is eventually to generate 30 per cent of its water supply from desalination. The other is Gujarat, which wants to develop six 100,000 m3/d SWROs at Dahej, Kutch, Dwarka, Somath, Bhavnagar and Pipavav. New hybrid model However, government authorities have become reluctant to enter build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) agreements following di— culties with some projects. Instead, forthcoming plants in Gujarat are to be procured through a new hybrid annuity model which has been designed to revitalise public-private part- nerships (PPPs) for water. The new structure requires the government to pay 40 per cent of the project cost in ™ ve initial annual instalments. The remaining 60 per cent is paid as a variable annuity following project completion. The hybrid model sees the private part- ner bear the construction and maintenance risk wholly (as in a BOOT), but the ™ nance risk only partially. The scale of op- portunity in India for desalination and wastewater reuse technology providers has created a highly- competitive market. Com- panies including Thermax, Jaldhara Technologies, VA Tech Wabag and Ion Exchange India have supplied solutions for pro- jects there. Black & Veatch has completed a water reuse master- plan for Maharashtra's capital Mumbai. The ™ rm also provided consultancy for a new wastewa- ter treatment project in Malad, in the north of the city. The list of completed industrial desalina- tion projects includes, in Gujarat, IDE's 48,000 m3/d plant for Reliance Industries at Jamnagar, and Thermax's 10,000 m3/d facility for Nirma Industries at Bhavnagar. In Chennai, Ion Ex- change delivered a 22,000 m3/d plant for Chennai Petroleum Corp. Policy development The government of India is pursuing policy initiatives which could make it easier to develop desalination and water reuse projects in the future. One such is the National Institution for Transforming India (formerly the Planning Commission)'s policy paper and strategic plan for desalination. The other is the National Mission on Desalination (NMD) which is in development by the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Drinking Water. The NMD is expected to develop, promote and embed desali- nation technol- ogy within the nation's water sector - although currently it's in the very early stages. The other area of focus is procurement. India's municipal and industrial buyers have "reasonably strong" pro- curement skills and experience, says ADB's Huang. "However, the skills to evaluate various techno-economic options, to decide on the most appropriate process technology, are very limited," she adds. Earth Water Group's Sub- ramaniam believes that the country has plenty of skilled professionals to cover detailed project design and engineering for wastewater treatment desali- nation projects. Master-planning, and project feasibility and economic viability studies are the ™ elds where he believes more input would be bene™ cial. With many Indian states struggling to maintain access to clean water, such professional support could prove vital in the months and years to come. March 2019 Water. desalination + reuse In Site 19 "The industrial sector will build 12 desalination plants in the range 10,000 to 30,000 m3/d over the next three years." Hariharan Subramaniam, chief operating offi cer of Earth Water Group, India-based water technology supplier Further, Maharashtra state has introduced regulations re quiring municipal bodies in 71 areas to establish treatment plants to reuse a minimum 6,800 litres a day of by 2020. Meanwhile in Gujarat, in the northwest, and the southeastern state Tamil Nadu the market for desalination is growing. Projects in these highly industrialised coastal states are driven by new port developments and the high cost of freshwater. Projects to develop desalination plants are also active in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. "India has about 180 opera- tional desalination plants. De- salination is a very relevant and economically feasible solution to water problems in coastal areas. Many industries in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are pay- ing more than INR 60 ($1.23) per cubic metre for their water sup- ply. Over the next three years I expect 12 new seawater desalina- tion plants in the capacity range 10,000 to 30,000 m3 to be built by the industrial sector," says Hariharan Subramaniam, chief operating o— cer of Earth Water Group, a local water technology supplier. Cost challenge India's large-scale municipal desalination capacity comprises two 100,000 m3/d seawater re- Gujarat, IDE's 48,000 m3/d plant for Reliance Industries at Jamnagar, and Thermax's 10,000 m3/d facility for Nirma Industries at Bhavnagar. In Chennai, Ion Ex- change delivered ramaniam believes that the country has plenty of skilled professionals to cover detailed project design and engineering for wastewater treatment desali- nation projects. Master-planning, and project feasibility and economic viability studies are the ™ elds where he believes more input would be bene™ cial. With many Indian states struggling to maintain access to clean water, such professional support could prove vital in the months and years to come. "The industrial sector will build 12 desalination plants in the range 10,000 to 30,000 m3/d over the next three years." Hariharan Subramaniam, chief operating offi cer of Earth Water Group, India-based water technology supplier "Municipal water tariff s remain very low which seriously impacts municipalities' ability to choose desalination." Jingmin Huang, principal urban development specialist, Asian Development Bank INR 60 ($1.23)/m3 cost of water for industry in Maharastha Gujarat, Tamil Nadu