Vishvaraj Infrastructure Sees Privatization A Plus For India’s Growth
Privvatising water is a contentious issue, but the fact remains it could prove beneficial to the country.
According to the numbers crunched by VIL prove that privatisation of water not only made social sense but also business sense. Citing Nagpur, the state pumps 540 million litres of water a day, but only 140 million litres, nearly 26% are accounted for. This clearly shows that the state is losing 400 million litres, which could have been incentivised. In fact, if water is metered, tariffs will go down as many people will be paying.
Yet, there remain concerns that privatisation could lead to a supply shortage, thus enabling private companies to only pay those with the highest fee. However, this may not happen as private firms, like VIL, would only be involved in making tap water connections available to all houses and metering them, while fees and tariffs would be decided by the concerned municipal body.
Water privatisation has become a very political issue. Yet, VIL has not been deterred. The company has been implementing road projects worth Rs 16,120 crore in Maharashtra. This includes ventures into water distribution on a public-private-partnership (PPP) basis.
With Nagpur 24x7, as its center point of projects based on water distribution, the company has similarly been implementing projects in cities like Magadi, Bidar, Basavakalyan, Shahabad and Yadgir in Karnataka. In the southern state, VIL plans to create 3.81 lakh water connections and lay 992 km of pipelines.
Once these projects get completed, more than 80,000 people will be able to drink water straight from their taps in these five cities, similarly seen in developed countries. Â The Nagpur-based company plans to overhaul the water distribution network in these cities.
“Communicating with people and getting them on board is crucial while taking up such a project. There is a World Bank report that quotes not-so-successful projects and the main reason is mishandling of the social side,” Arun Lakhani, chairman and director of VIL told BusinessLine.
The need for clean drinking water is an urgent requirement, but with limited funds, towns are looking to set up more water projects. This, in turn such plans keep sewage projects on the hold. According to Arun Lakhani, chairman and director of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) Â this is leading to pumping out 38,000 million litres of sewage water daily without any sort of treatment.
VIL provides global solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the water sector through innovation in the design, construction and operation of drinking water treatment plants, distribution system reforms, etc. The Company has executed or in execution projects worth approximately Rs 27,500 million across the three sectors primarily through PPP contracting and few through EPC route.
