The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Bottled water: Congress legislator presents BOT model

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Thursday, Jul 23, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Bottled water: Congress legislator presents BOT model

HYDERABAD: A Congress MLA from Ranga Reddy has come out with a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model that can become a boon for the government in the implementation of its ambitious plan to supply mineral water to all the rural areas in the State. Medchal MLA Kicchannagari Laxma Reddy submitted a report “Rajiv Jeevana Dhara’ to the Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy recently explaining the results of the experiment conducted in Ranga Reddy district by KLR Trust run by him.

The trust has adopted the successful concept in 70 villages by setting up mineral water manufacturing plants each costing about Rs. 70,000).

Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday, Mr. Laxma Reddy said it was possible to cover the eight crore population in the State by 2011 by adopting the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) mode. Reputed NGOs could be roped in to install the mineral water plants and supply water at Rs. 2 for a 20 litre can after entrusting the marketing to Self Help Groups.

“The actual cost of setting up a full fledged plant would be around Rs. 1.35 lakh, if necessary subsidies and incentives are provided to the stakeholders, the cost would come down to Rs. 70,000.”

Sops like waiver of taxes on the manufacturing plants and supply of water to the plants, free permits to drill bore wells and incentive of Rs. 30,000 could be given to the beneficiaries of weaker section finance corporations, who come forward to start water plants.

Mr. Reddy said the government could tie-up with all the 300 reverse osmosis (RO) plant manufacturers in the city to set up district level manufacturing units. “If the Government is keen on covering the entire rural population, it should set up 10 RO plants in each district,” he observed.

All the manufacturing units can produce 69,000 plants in a year. According to the BOT, the NGO or the operator could withdraw after five or ten years by recovering the investment and hand over the plant to SHGs or youth associations.

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Andhra Pradesh