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Virendra Pandit

Ahmedabad, March 4

A consortium, led by the $12-billion ITT Corporation, has been awarded a $22 million contract to supply a number of high-end water pumps for two irrigation systems to the Andhra Pradesh irrigation project, the largest in India.

ITT, a Fortune 500 global company and the world’s largest supplier of pumps and systems to transport, treat and control water and other fluids, had inaugurated its first production facility in India for manufacture of pumps and valves at Vadodara recently.

Combined, these two systems will irrigate more than 2.5 lakh acres of farmland in Andhra Pradesh. In addition to the pumps, the contract also calls for ITT to complete sump and pump modelling and supervision of installation, with delivery slated for late 2010, said Mr Sam Yamdagni, Managing Director, ITT India.

“Andhra Pradesh is known as the ‘Rice Bowl of India’ and these projects enable us to make a vital contribution by bringing water where it is needed and growing Indian agricultural production,” he added.

The contract involves two irrigation projects for the Andhra Pradesh Irrigation and Command Area Development Department, which manages the largest irrigation project in India and is recognised as one of the largest in the world.

At the Pranahita Chevella lift irrigation system, ITT pumps will lift 79 cubic metres of water per second from the Thipparam Reservoir to the Chevella Reservoir. At the Chintalpudi system, the pumps will lift 56 cubic metres of water a second from the Godavari River to the Jaleru Reservoir in three stages.

“Low maintenance, high-efficiency pumps play a significant role in the success of a lift irrigation project and we aim to leverage ITT’s well-recognised expertise in this domain,” said Mr B. Srinivasa Reddy, Vice-President, Projects and Business Development, Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL), consortium partner for these projects.

“This association is special as it brings together MEIL, one of the largest players in India in lift irrigation and ITT.”

For more than a decade, ITT has been a supplier of water and industrial process pumps in India, as well as commercial products, such as shock absorbers for the Indian Railways.

It has also provided components for India’s space programmes and is now aboard the country’s first-ever moon mission.

Through its global philanthropy programme, ITT Watermark, the company has committed $3 million over the next three years to provide safe water and sanitation to children and families in water-stressed regions, including India.

More Stories on : New Business | Agriculture | Andhra Pradesh | Engineering

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