Ahmedabad, March 4 : As part of its social responsibility, the Chennai-based VA Tech Wabag Ltd, the Indian arm of the euro 3.5-billion VA Tech Group of Austria, has decided to donate two desalination plants to the quake-hit Kutch district, which is also perennially drought-hit.VA Tech Wabag Ltd chairman G Heisler and managing director Rajiv Mittal said that operation cost of the plants come to around 1.5 to 3 paise per litre.They said: "We have our first and biggest exposure in India in Gujarat at Reliance Petroleum Ltd (RPL) and we felt we must do something to alleviate the grief and loss of people. We had also extended such help to Turkey two years back."
"The place of plants were decided after our discussion with the State's chief secretary LNS Mukundan as to where to set up the plants. One plant has a capacity to convert 50,000 litres per day (LPD) of sea water and the other 1.0 lakh LPD of brackish water into potable water. Both these plants conform ISI and WHO standards."
"The plants will be commissioned by April. The company officials would undertake operation, maintenance and would impart training to Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board men," they added. The company, incorporated in 1995, has posted a turnover of Rs 45 crore in the last fiscal. It has so far set up Asia's largest effluent treatment plant (ETP) of 48,000 m3/day capacity at RPL refinery at Jamnagar and currently is implementing a Rs 28-crore sewerage treatment plants (STP) of 200 mlpd projects for Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) .
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