Hitachi to build Asia's biggest desalination plant in Dahej
GANDHINAGAR: A high-profile consortium led by Japanese multinational firm Hitachi on Thursday signed an agreement with the Gujarat government to set up Asia's biggest desalination plant in Dahej special economic zone (SEZ) in South Gujarat.
Signed in the presence of chief minister Narendra Modi, others who form part of the consortium are Japanese firm Itochu and Singapore's Hyflux.
The project, which is expected to cost Rs 2,000 crore, will be set up on design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) basis. To be set up in two phases, the consortium is likely to produce 70 million gallons per day (MGD) of sweet water for industrial use on completion. "The project will be completed in three years," a senior government official told TOI soon after the agreement.
Work for the project is likely to begin in October, after obtaining all necessary clearances, including environmental, from the Centre.
While the consortium proposes to buy up 30 hectares of land in Dahej SEZ, officials said, once ready, it will supply water to units in SEZ as well as enterprises being set up in Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemical Investment Region (PCPIR), Dahej, which is the fastest developing special investment region in the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC).
The official said the proposed cost of the desalinized water from the plant is "likely to be Rs 40 per 1,000 litres, which is considerably lower than other desalination plants in India."
He added, "A desalination plant being set up in Chennai with the support of the Tamil Nadu government, for instance, supplies water for Rs 56 per 1,000 litres. Nowhere in India desalinised water is available for less than Rs 50 per 1,000 litres".
However, the official admitted, the desalination plant will not be enough to take care of the water requirements of Dahej SEZ and PCPIR.
"The projected requirement of PCPIR, which includes Dahej SEZ, is 300 MGD. Other sources, especially a proposed pipeline from the Narmada canal off Narmada dam, will have to be tapped for enhancing water requirement of the industries."
JJ
