Use of sewage water by power generation companies will require Rs 32,000 crore investment: Arun Lakhani

VIL CMD Arun Lakhani

Government’s directive to use recycled sewage water by power plants will call for an investment of up to Rs 32,000 crore to meet the requirement of 80 GW capacities of state and central utilities.

“The use of sewage water by central and state power generation companies will alone require an investment of up to Rs 32,000 crore depending upon the distance between sewage treatment plant and the power plant,” Vishvaraj Infrastructure Chairman and Managing Director Arun Lakhani said.
Government’s directive will not be legally binding and it depends on state regulators to implement it. But even if central and state generators with aggregate capacity of 80,000 MW follow this directive, they would be requiring supply of 8,000 million litres treated water per day.

In January this year, government unveiled a tariff policy, which provides that thermal power plants including the existing plants located within 50 km radius of sewage treatment plant of municipality/local bodies shall mandatorily use treated sewage water produced by these bodies.

Also, the associated cost on this account should be allowed as a pass through in the tariff.
Arun Lakhani said use of 8,000 million litres of treated water will result in drinking water for 16 crore people every day and help the country deal with prevailing drought-like situation in many states today.

“Our arm Vishvaraj Environment has planned to create a capacity to supply 3,000 litres of treated sewage water to power plants in the next five years, which will require an investment of about Rs 10,000 crore, ” he said.

Recently, NTPC has decided to use sewage water treated by Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) sewage treatment plant (STP) at Bhandewadi for its Mouda plant. The plant is operating two 500 MW units using Gosikhurd water.

NMC is building a 200 million litre per day (MLD) capacity STP at Bhandewadi.

“We will be supplying 150 MLD to NTPC Mouda plant while we are looking for buyers for remaining 50 MLD supplies. It is the first PPP plant in the country as all other plants are owned by local bodies or state governments,” he said.
Other industries require additional 20,000 MLD supplies, which is also a big business opportunity for this segment, he added.

This New is Originally Posted on NAGPUR TODAY

Water sector development should get top priority among urban bodies: VIL CMD Arun Lakhani

Arun Lakhani, CMD, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd

Arun Lakhani, CMD of leading water management player Vishvaraj Industries, complimented Prime Minister Narender Modi led government for taking host of initiatives for conservation, harvesting, recycling and treatment of scarce water and said sustainable efforts for water sector is a must in the face of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation. “Urban local bodies are however constrained by the fund shortage and are not taking the water sector projects to the level desired,” he said participating in a seminar “Challenges of Water Supply and Sanitation for Urban and Rural Areas” on the occasion of India Water Week, 2016, inaugurated by Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti.

Arun Lakhani, Said that India requires a staggering over US$ 45 Billion investment for improvement in the water sector and industry should become a partner to the government for this national cause. “Carriage and treatment of waste water is being overlooked by the local bodies and doesn’t get the due importance. The need for sustainable development of water sector cannot be over looked.,

” he said and voiced a word of caution that water cannot and should not be merely treated as an economic commodity as it is the basic right of human being and is deeply embodied in the social fabric of the community.” The seminar on the second day of the Water Week was attended by large segment of government officials, water management players and industry leaders.

A session on case study presentation was organized by FICCI where eminent speaker from the water industry presented their views and solutions pertaining to water sector. The speakers present at the case study presentation were Arun Lakhani, CMD Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd, Pradeep Suri Chairman, IL&FS Water Ltd and Chairman FICCI’s National Executive Committee on Urban Infrastructure and Smart Cities, Dinesh Chand, Additional Advisor for Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, M.S. Agarwal, Retd Chairman, GRMB, Siddhartha Prakash, Sr Operations officer, International Finance Corporation, IFC.

Best practices from companies across industries were shared along with strategic keynote presentations by industry stalwarts who play an integral role in the field of water sustainability in India. The importance of risk management and mitigation was stressed upon at the conference; this is crucial for the longevity of any sectors sustainability and collaboration is the way forward to address radical and frequent changes in the externalities of ecosystem.

The event was inaugurated by Uma Bharti Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation. Speaking on the occasion the Minister said that Water Resources are the prime input to the growth and prosperity of a nation and Films can prove to be an effective tool of communication to spread the message of water conservation. Vishvaraj industries is a pioneer player in treating waste water for household consumption and created a showcased project in Nagpur to supply water to more than half of winter capital of Maharashtra nearly 15 years ago and is now providing consultancy to various Urban Local Bodies and policy maker in efficient use of water technology.

This News is Originally Posted on INDIAINFOLINE

VIL CMD Arun Lakhani