Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on 16 January 2021 inaugurated the bottled water plant at Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram.
This is the second such manufacturing unit to be set up in the public sector in the state.
The plant, envisaged to manufacture the state government's packaged drinking water brand 'Hilly Aqua', was set up by the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIDC).
The state government was committed to provide drinking water at an affordable rate, and it will increase the production and supply of quality bottled water from the plant as demand increases.
Hilly Aqua was first produced from a plant in Thodupuzha. While the market price for the bottled water was Rs 20, the Hilly Aqua could be made available for public at Rs 13.
As many as 2,720 bottles of 20 ltr each can be filled per day at the Aruvikkara plant. In the initial phase, 20 ltr of bottled water will be distributed at a price of Rs 20 each. The required bottles will be manufactured at the plant itself.
The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the all-women network Kudumbashree has designated a six-member team called Santhvanam for distribution and marketing of the drinking water manufactured from the new plant.