The Hindu Business Line : Italian cos keen on water, sewage projects in India

TOP Italian companies in specialised fields of solid wastes management, and water and sewage treatment plants, such as Sistema Ecodeco Spa and Ecodeco and Cispel-Confservizi are looking for joint venture/technology tie-up opportunities in India, in general, and Bengal in particular.

Besides these specific areas, Italian companies are also looking for opportunities in areas such as gems and jewellery, textiles, clothing, wooden toys and furniture.

Participating in an interactive session organised by the CII, Eastern Region, here on Friday, Mr Mattia Miglio of Promos, a special wing of the Milan Chamber of Commerce, said under a European Commission funded programme, the Association of Public Utilities of the Lombardi region of Italy has already signed agreements for detailed studies on water and sewage treatment technologies of four municipal bodies of West Bengal — Howrah, Asansol, Durgapur and Siliguri. He said the reports of the Euro five-lakh study programme, co-funded by the EC to the extent of 60 per cent of the costs, would be submitted soon.

The reports would basically dwell on concrete solutions for these civic bodies.

Leading a five-member business mission to Bengal, Mr Miglio, said this was a follow-up to the signing of a MoU between the West Bengal Government and the Governor of the Lombardi region last year (under the European Commission-India Cooperation for Water Treatment and Sewage programme) when the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, visited Italy.

Mr Miglio said the focus of entrepreneurs in the north-eastern region of Lombardi was now on developing joint ventures with industry in China and India, with special focus on economic ties with West Bengal.

The region is said to house some 10 lakh small and medium enterprises, with each employing some 8-10 employees only, and generally take up projects on the basis of a cluster approach. Besides public utilities, some agreements are also being finalised in the leather products sector.

Talking to Business Line, Mr S. Sampath Kumar, Chairman of Council for Leather Exports (CLE), said senior officials of two leading trade associations connected to the Italian leather industry, namely Assomac and Pisie, are coming to Kolkata in the first week of December to help some city-based leather exporters find joint venture partners in Italy. He said the CLE was now in the process of identifying these units. The associations will also study various deficiencies in these units and also suggest remedies, particularly in areas of marketing, technology and human resource development.

The funding is to be taken care of by the Indo-Italian line of credit earmarked by the Italian Government for such programmes. A portion of the costs will also be borne by the council.

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