Arun Lakhani was the primary driving force behind the Nagpur 24X7 water project, a landmark PPP project by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation to provide hygienic drinking water to the city especially the slum dwellers. Nagpur essentially opened it's doors and mind to an opportunity that would help build a streamlined and efficient model which could be replicated in the future.
Led by Lakhani Nagpur became the first city in India to build a 24/7, fully pressurized drinking water supply system. A joint venture company aptly named Orange City Water was created and entered a concussion contract under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM)
Taking up the mantle for waste water management and water conservation in the city Lakhani is today a speaker and delegate at various national and international water conventions. Mr. Arun Lakhani participated in the Global Water Investment summit as a speaker and addressed the Session on 'Water Infrastructure Finance' on 7th May 2014 in London, UK. Describing the Indian water scenario, he emphasised on Benchmarking best practices in PPP, Stakeholder Engagement, Innovative Financing Initiatives and Risk Mitigation Strategies.
Driven by his mission to have a sustainable supply of clean water in India he was recently invited by the Planning Commission to be part of the committee on Industrial Water in addition to being a prominent member of all recognized trade organisations like CII, FICCI & Assocham.
His vision is to have water sustainability by cleaning and maintaining the river water supply and his company leads various R&D projects towards the same. In addition he is working on core water supply mechanisms in terms of reduction of non-revenue water, pressure maximization utilizing level surveys, tank capacities, quick speed house service connection etc.
With visionaries and leaders like Arun Lakhani the Government and citizens of India can rest assured that the dream of a Swach Bharat and Clean Ganga will be a reality soon.
