2014 has been a year of mixed outcomes for the Water Industry in India says A.V. Suresh, president – International Operations and CEO, Forbes Professional at Eureka Forbes.
On the positive side, the Water Industry has shown a modest growth and the awareness of water recycling has increased with a large number of Industries showing their interest in investing on such systems. Many multinational Industries have entered the Indian Market to provide Water and waste water solutions.
On the negative side, the Industrial Growth has been sluggish thereby delaying finalization of many orders coupled with high finance cost involved. The market has become more competitive which should augur well for the customers as they will not only be benefited by competitive pricing but also have access to state of art technologies.
The following were the major trends in 2014 in the water treatment market in India.
# Customer preference to go in Zero Liquid Discharge based waste Water treatment schemes.
# Increased use of Membrane based systems.
# Reducing footprints of Water and waste water treatment systems and opting for energy efficient systems.
# More competitive pricing structure leading to working with low margins.
2014 was a promising year for Eureka Forbes, said Suresh. In one of the significant achievements, the company bagged an export order for a desalination plant apart from increased enquiries for Waste Water treatment systems.
According to Suresh, there is an increased interest of the Government, Municipal and Public agencies in Water and Waste Water Treatment as a part of the Swach Bharat Abhiyan. This will open a plethora of opportunities in 2015.
The industry is expected to see inflow of foreign direct investment in the Infrastructure sector.
With the “Make in India” campaign, the Indian Industrial Sector is expected to grow from the present 2 percent to 6 percent.
Adding to these is the increase in CSR spends by large corporate focusing on providing safe drinking water.
All of these activities are likely to boost the water treatment market in India in 2015, says Suresh.
Rajani Baburajan