IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects Ltd has
bagged a Rs.500 crore contract to set up a sea water desalination plant for the
Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply & Sewerage Board.
The project, expected to supply drinking water to
Chennai, has been awarded on a Design, Build, Own, Operate & Transfer
basis, with a concession period of 25 years. The project is to come up at Minjur
on the northern outskirts of Chennai.
IVRCL and its technical partner BEFESA
Construction Y Tecnologia Ambiental SAU of Spain, would float a special purpose
vehicle to implement the project.
The project, one among a series of schemes to
improve water supply to Chennai. The Government announced in the Assembly in
2003 that a Rs.1,500 crore desalination project would be set up on a BOOT basis.
However, the project could not take off after a bidder went to court over
tendering issues. The desalination project is expected to contribute
significantly to meeting the city's drinking water requirement of 840 million
litres a day (mld)
Tamil Nadu has augmented water availability
through the recently-completed Rs.720 crore New Veeranam Project and the
proposed extension of the scheme, costing Rs.300 crore.