MUMBAI: Vishvaraj Infrastructure plans
to invest around Rs 6,000 crore over the next five years to tap the growing
market for waste water treatment and expand its footprint across the country.
It expects to garner around Rs 2,500
crore in revenue from this business, the company's Chairman and Managing
Director Arun Lakhani
said.
Vishvaraj Infrastructure, which
started off with BOT road projects in Maharashtra, has diversified into
integrated water supply, waste treatment and reuse segments.
"Around 38,250 MLD of
wastewater is generated by tier-I and II cities, which is estimated to grow 3.5
times to 1,32,250 MLD by 2050.
"We see this as a huge market
for sewage treatment and reuse for commercial purposes," Lakhani told PTI
here.
On the revenue side, he said,
"Though we will continue to look at road projects, our focus will be on
water business now.
"In the next five years, with
the current projects and addition of a few more, we can expect up to Rs 2,500 crore
revenue from this segment," he said.
He added that the company is looking
at entering Rajasthan, Karnataka, Haryana, West Bengal and Bihar to take up
waste water treatment and water supply projects.
Vishvaraj is currently executing
water supply projects in Nagpur in Maharashtra, and Magadi, Bidar and
Basavakalyan in Karnataka.
It is also executing a USD
42-million sewage water treatment project in Nagpur.
The current waste water treatment
capacity in the country is only around 30 percent of the total generation, but
only 55 percent of this is operational.
"This translates to an
investment gap of over USD 7 billion for tier I and II cities by next fiscal
year alone. We want to be known as an urban utility and focus on waste water
treatment and reuse," Lakhani said.
He said sewage water needs has to be
looked at as a resource as it is ultimately water that can be used by
industries after treatment.
"This is a win-win proposition
to create value from waste whilst contributing positively to environmental
sustainability," he said.
The company, which is operating four
BOT road projects, is expecting a total revenue of Rs 500 crore in the next two
years.
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New is Originally Posted on ECONOMIC TIME
