Mr. Arun Lakhani CMD VIL at ET Infra Focus Annual Summit Round Table Conference-I - New Delhi

Mr. Arun Lakhani CMD VIL at ET Infra Focus Annual Summit Round Table Conference-I - New Delhi

Top shuttlers of Nagpur to be felicitated by district association on Thursday

NAGPUR: Acknowledging the spectacular performance of the city shuttlers in the last few months, the Nagpur District Badminton Association (NDBA) will felicitate them at the DNC Hall here on Thursday (July 28).

"We are honouring around 8-10 players who brought laurels to the city by excelling at the state, national and international tournaments on regular basis. We will give all the top achievers handsome cash prizes and a memento. We will finalize the names in a day or two," said NDBA secretary Mangesh Kashikar while addressing the media here on Monday.

In another big announcement, Kashikar said the NDBA is planning to hold State Sub-Junior Championship in association with the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) in October or November.

"The season's last sub-junior state meet is scheduled to be held from October 4-8 at Ratnagiri but due to some problem it will be either postponed or cancelled. In such situation, we are ready to host the tournament in the city with the help of NMC. It will be named Mayor's Cup. We will request MBA president Arun Lakhani to allot us Ratnagiri tournament," he said.

He said NDBA is celebrating 50 years of its existence by holding a series of events like Corporate Cup and Inter-School badminton tournament. "In 2018, the NDBA is determined to host Senior Nationals for the first time in the city. We will definitely bid for the Nationals. Mankapur-based Divisional Sports Complex is well equipped to hold any major tournament with more than ten courts on their premises," said Kashikar.

NDBA president Kunda Vijaykar, joint secretary Naresh Chafekar, and members Sushant Pawar, Bhavna Agre, Bhavesh Deshmukh and Gurdeep Arora were present at the press conference.

This News Original Post on Time Of India

Nagpur’s “24×7 water supply project” get’s ‘Thumbs Up’ in Berlin, Germany

Nagpur: After receiving many awards and recognitions, The Orange City Water (OCW) has added yet another feather in its cap by being showcased and receiving ‘Thumbs Up’ for its ongoing “Uninterrupted Water Supply Project (commonly known as 24×7 project) at prestigious ‘The Indo-German Partnership meet in Water, Waste and Sanitation Event’ held in Berlin (Germany) recently.

Arun Lakhani, lead Promoter of OCW (CMD of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd) represented Indian delegation and gave a detailed presentation about various issues and solutions in the Indian Water sector at the event.

Addressing the meeting Arun Lakhani, stated: “India is going through major shifts and mega changes such as rapid urbanisation leading to acute resource scarcity. The idea should be to supply water to more people while using the same capacities rather than waiting for new infrastructures to be built. Projects worth over US$15 billion are up for grab in over 10-15 years.”

Arun Lakhani mentioned that German companies should take note of the market developments in the water and waste sector in India which is rapidly changing. He advised German companies to adapt as well as improve their technologies and solutions to suit the

Indian conditions. He suggested for adoption of successful business model including PPP modes
to be successful in India.

Arun Lakhani represented FICCI as an Industrial Speaker for the event titled “Opportunities for Indo-German Partnership in Water, Waste and Sanitation”. The event was organised by the Embassy of India in partnership with the German Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) for the German investors and technology providers in the water and waste water sector.

Various German companies have expressed interest to participate and contribute to Ganga Rejuvenation Mission, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Smart Cities Mission of the Government of India. Vishvaraj Infrastructure has done studies on 100 cities in India, most of the cities have ample water resources but citizens are still facing water shortages due to poor water management.

German companies are global leaders offering advanced solutions in the water and waste sectors. Senior officials from German Water Partnership and German Waste Industry Association (ReTech) participated in the event and identified potential areas of cooperation with India leveraging the strengths of the German industry in water and waste sectors.

The Berlin event was attended by Ambassador of India to Germany Shri Gurjit Singh; General Manager, German Water Partnership, Christine Von Lonski; MD and CEO, Ramky Enviro Engineers Ltd., Goutham Reddy; German Recycling Technologies and Waste Management
Partnership e.V., Melanie Köpke; Second Secretary (Economic& Commerce), Embassy of India, Berlin, Vikram Vardhan among others.

During the event a Panel Discussion was also held on “Opportunities for Indo-German Partnership In Water, Waste and Sanitation”. Along with Arun Lakhani, the fellow panelists were Dr. Michael Kuhn, Managing Director Kuhn GmbH, Kai Ressel, Project Manager, Harbauer Gmbh, Andreas Waldraff, Managing Director, UBF.B GmbH, Dr. Thomas Probst, Federal Association Secondary raw materials and Waste management (BVSE), Goutham Reddy, MD and CEO, Ramky Enviro Engineers & Member, CII.

This News is Originally Posted on NAGPUR TODAY

NEWSBRIEF: Germany Supports Green Projects in India

BERLIN (IDN) – Leading German companies have expressed interest in backing three environmental undertakings of top priority to the Government of India. These relate to rejuvenating the legendary Ganges river and supporting a national campaign to clean the streets, roads and infrastructure of the country.

Known as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission), the campaign covers 4,041 statutory cities and towns.

A third priority campaign, called Smart Cities Mission, relates to an urban renewal and retrofitting program of the Government of India with a view to developing 100 cities all over the country and making these both citizen-friendly and sustainable.

German companies are considered global leaders offering advanced solutions in the water and waste sectors.

Addressing a business meeting organized for the German investors and technology providers in the water and waste sector at the Embassy of India Berlin on June 30, Dr. Andreas Jaron from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) said that both countries were identifying specific areas and projects in India.

These, he said, include identification of Best Available Technologies, assistance in capacity building, developing markets, business models and a roadmap for bilateral cooperation.
Germany has pledged €126 million (some $140) for the Ganga rejuvenation mission and also identified the cities of Kochi, Coimbatore and Bhubaneswar for development as Smart Cities.

According to official sources, several German companies from the waste management and water to-energy sectors are keen to “expand their footprint in India”. In this regard, the business event organized on June 30 by the Embassy of India, Berlin in partnership with the BMUB and German Water Partnership sought to mobilize greater B2B (business-to-business) collaborations in the sectors of water and waste.

Speaking on the occasion, Arun Lakhani, Chairman and Managing Director of the Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd and Member of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Water Mission, asked German companies to take note of the rapidly changing market developments in the water and waste sector in India. He advised them to adapt as well as improve their technologies and solutions to suit the Indian conditions.


Senior officials from German Water Partnership and German Recycling Technologies and Waste Management Partnership (German ReTech Partnership) joined the event and identified potential areas of cooperation with India leveraging the strengths of the German industry in water and waste sectors.

Many of the German companies showed interest to forge new partnerships with India seeking support under the Make In India Mittelstand(MIIM) programme, being run by the Indian Embassy to ease the entry of small and medium-sized German enterprises to India. 

This Blog is Original Post on InDepthNews

Nagpur’s smart water management is an example for other cities across India

 

A special train carried around five lakh litres of water for parched Latur in Maharashtra’s Marathwada region in April this year. The first batch of 10 wagons, each with a capacity of around 50,000 litres, travelled a distance of around 350 kilometres to reach their destination where water was stored in a well located near the Latur railway station. 

For 14 years now, arid Rajasthan has been using the railways to get water to its districts. This year since January, the state’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has been running a 50-wagon train from Ajmer to Bhilwara daily, carrying 25 lakh litres. 

While these steps are necessary, such measures might not have been required in the first place had these cities managed their water systems well. And with the smart cities list being announced, it’s time these cities took a smart look at their water management systems.

The first city to take the lead is Nagpur, Maharashtra. Now included in the smart cities list, it has a population of over 2.5 million people and is the first city of its size in the country to outsource water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. Under the scheme the main objective was to provide 24-hour 100% safe drinking water to 100% population including slum dwellers within five years. The second objective was to reduce non-revenue water (50% water supplied to towns which is untraceable, not recorded and not paid for) to below 25% in 10 years. The project included management of the entire water cycle from production, treatment, transport, storage and delivery to the customer’s tap. It involved replacement of over three lakh house service connections, rehabilitation of treatment facilities, service reservoirs and pipelines. 

“Now every household has a tap and a meter irrespective of whether it is a jhuggi, a flat or a bungalow. There is accountability for every drop of water supplied the first time,” says Arun Lakhani, chairman and managing director, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd, which executed the Nagpur Orange City Water Project.

The aim of the project was to address problems of water that was being wasted and not getting billed. The city was supplying 575 million litres per day (mld) of treated water of which only 175 mld was getting billed and paid for. Most meters were either non-existent or non functional. Also, the city was receiving water supply for eight to 10 hours or on alternate days. The tanker mafia added to the problem. On the sewage side, the city was generating 550 mld of sewage and had the capacity to treat only 100 mld. The remaining untreated sewage was polluting water bodies that supplied water to the city.

For this project, the private company invested 30% of the estimated project cost, 70% grants came from the JNNURM scheme, shared by both the state and the Central government. The project was initiated by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. This project has showcased as the model case study for other cities at the launch of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City initiative.

The company also undertook a waste water reuse project for Nagpur city under which National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will be reusing 200 mld of treated water from the STP for its Mauda plant. By doing so, the city will get an additional 200 million litres per day of water, which is enough for 200 lakh people.

“Currently, the industrial sector, which is one of the biggest consumers of water, is supplied fresh treated potable water. They can easily use waste water treated up to the secondary level. As much as 80% of the water being supplied to cities is right there. It only needs to be treated and supplied to industries. Good potable water that industries get can be swapped for residential and drinking purposes,” says Arun Lakhani. 

Out of a 1,000 ml litre per day supplied to a town, nearly 800 mld is coming back as sewage. Out of this almost 500 mld can be treated and supplied to commercial complexes, industries, thermal power stations and water city parks. This can solve water shortage problems in almost every town, he says.

Faridabad in NCR is ideal for this kind of a project as the commercial base is huge. Supplying treated water to factories and industries will help the city manage its water requirements. It can also make the city cross subsidise drinking water for its citizens.

Gurgaon’s water producing capacity is around 320 mld of water per day. With a population of 15 lakh, the consumption of water should not be more than 200 litres per day per person, yet the area has water scarcity. “The reason is that there is no accountability of water supplied, no maintenance of pipelines, no idea of what is being utilised and what is supplied and the amount that is being wasted.” he says. 

The “Haryana Power Generation Corporation Limited is in discussions with us for possible use of sewage treated water for all the plants,” he says. Discussions are also on with Ghaziabad municipality and NTPC, Dadri, for supplying treated sewage water to the Dadri water plant. 

The company has also bid for NDMC’s pilot 24x7 water distribution system. As for tackling Dwarka’s water plan, Lakhani suggests that packaged STPs with a capacity of supplying 10 lakh litres per day to Dwarka are the best solution. This facility can be set up within two weeks and can tap sewage from around the sub city. 

It has also offered solutions for watering cricket grounds and pitches wherein an STP set up on site to tap sewage and reuse the treated water.

This New is Originally Posted on Hindustan Times