According to S Ramachandran, Managing Director, IVRCL Assets and Holdings Ltd, the company is awaiting tenders to come out soon in three coastal cities. "We are expecting tenders to come out from certain coastal located states and will definitely pitch for the same. Though the process shall be slow, going forward we expect to have a first mover advantage in this growing market for desalinated water worldwide," Ramachandran told PTI.
The 100 mld (million litre a day) desalination plant at Minjur to the north of Chennai has been established by Chennai Water Desalination Ltd (CWDL), a joint venture of IVRCL Assets & Holdings Ltd, and Befesa India, a subsidiary of Befesa Construccion Tecnologia Ambiental, Spain.
The desalination plant will fetch about Rs 46-48 lakh per day at the operating level of 95 per cent capacity, Ramachandra said. "In terms of locations for desalination plants, we do see possibilities in Mumbai, Vizag and Kerala to begin with," he said.
He said recession had an adverse affect on daily collection of BOT (Build operate and transfer) projects which now averages to Rs 67-69 lakh, including the Chennai Desalination plant.
The company's operational asset portfolio consists of three road projects and two water projects. The operational road projects are located in Tamil Nadu on NH 47, one beginning with Salem and ending at Kumarapalayam, another beginning from Kumarapalayam and ending at Chengapally with the continuous tolling stretch of 102.04 km.
The third operational road project is located in Punjab on NH-1 beginning from Jalandhar and ending at Amritsar with the tolling stretch of 49 km. The company's Water projects are located in Chennai (desalination), and the second project is the 12 MLD Sewage treatment plant.
"Currently, we are in the process of achieving financial closure for three road projects (one NHAI and two state projects) and one truck terminal project of the MIDC," Ramachandran said explaining about the status of various projects.
He said they are scouting for a strategic investor for its Maharashtra-Goa highway project worth Rs 3,100 crore. It is also mulling to offload some of its land bank to infuse capital for further investments.
"We have approximately 1200 acres of land in IVRCL Assets and Holdings Limited and we expect to monetise some of these land banks to the extent of approximately Rs 500 crore in the coming three years," Ramachandran said.
Explaining about the future potential of desalination projects in India, he said recently the Ministry of Power has given priority in allocation of gas for power projects using desalinated water.
"Worldwide the market for desalination projects has been growing at 16 per cent. In India, since ours is the first successful project many companies are showing interest. Ports like Ganagavaram and Kakinada have approached us for setting up of desalination projects. However, talks are in the preliminary stages," Ramachnadran said.