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WaterHealth India, which is into providing affordable solutions to safe drinking water, has set an ambitious target of serving 100 million users by 2020. At present, with a presence in 36 districts across half a dozen states, its user base is 6 million.
A wholly owned subsidiary of WaterHealth International (WHI), US, the Hyderabad-based company operates 450 community water systems (each costing ₹18-20 lakh). Called WaterHealth Centres, they are located in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Asked, how such a daunting target can be achieved, Vikas Shah, Chief Operating Officer, said the strategy is to ‘serve the under-served, with special focus on urban areas. “Traditionally, water treatment, safe drinking water efforts have been rural-centric, but we find a huge opportunity in cities as well.”
The ‘for profit’ company recently won a major contract to provide water purification systems for 200 wards in Bengaluru city. We have already established close to 25. This will help us reach at least 9.5 million people. This model can be replicated in several cities and a large number of people are served, he told BusinessLine .
He said organisations such as USAID ( 25 purification plants are being funded in Bengaluru) and philanthropists like Melinda & Gates, Warren Buffet and Clinton Foundation and Rotary Clubs offer huge funds for such projects in the developing world. Another route is to source commercial, low-cost overseas debt, Vikas added..In the last few years, the company has attracted equity investments from IFC, Dow Chemical Company, Coca Cola, Tata Capital, Sail Capital Partners, Acumen Fund and Vital Capital.
WHI implements its patented purification process to set up plants that purify local water resources to WHO-quality standards and produce ‘drwater’. It works on the public-private partnership model with water sold at cost-effective price.
The land, raw water source and electricity are provided by the community. WHI sets up the plant and signs a build-operate-transfer agreement with a concession agreement between 15-20 years. “Outright setting up and sale to interested parties that later operate is also growing,” he said.
Africa pushWaterHealth is going aggressive in three African countries—Ghana, Nigeria and Liberia. It started operations in Ghana (2008) and Nigeria and Liberia in 2012. At present, it has 50 operational plants in these nations.
The target is to reach 200 plants in Ghana in the next five years. In Nigeria, though it took 14 months to get the first contract, the next 15 have come in three months.
The scene in Liberia is also very encouraging. With Nigeria, expected to emerge as the third largest populated nation by 2025 after India and China, the demand is expected to shoot up, Vikas said.
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