Nagpur 24x7 project - Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL India)

Water supply to be explained in beginner's terms is the provision of water by public utilities, viable organizations, community activities or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered separately. Mr. Arun Lakhani had a vision for Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL India) as he considered Water Supply is a project that needs to be worked on and developed for a billion+ people in India.

At VIL we see ourselves as social entrepreneurs since Water, Waste Water and Transport; the sectors in which we have built our reputation are closely interwoven with the lives of people. As business, apart from value creation for share holders they also impact happiness quotient of the people, thus offering enormous satisfaction to us for our life transforming work. The rapidly urbanizing Indian population is expected to reach a figure close to 600 million urban people by 2031. This massive transition is creating serious challenges for urban planners and ULBs especially that of ensuring quality water supply to these citizens. Indian cities have for long lived with intermittent water supply systems riddled with a variety of problems ranging from high levels of NRW to contamination issues.

The areas to be in focus in 24x7 water supply are as follows: Non-Revenue Water ranging from 50 to 75%, Water supply coverage only about 64%, Intermittent Supply & Poor billing mechanism. As a solution to this situation several reforms have been initiated by the government which include introduction of performance linked PPP contracts, up gradation of existing ageing assets, 100% metering and efficient operation and maintenance of the supply system. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. provides global solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the water sector through innovation in the design, construction and operation of drinking water treatment plants, distribution system reforms, etc.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited Water supply success stories: Nagpur 24 X 7 – Nagpur is the 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. Nagpur 24 x 7 Water Supply

First Full City Continuous water supply Project in India

The Project gives emphasis on Operator’s Performance; the Operator remuneration is linked with the technical and commercial efficiency of his services.

·         Delinking of consumer tariff and Operator’s fees

·         Employees and Unions – Job security of government employees maintained

·         Included ‘economically challenged segment of society’ in Service Level Agreement (SLA) for connecting households

·         Sovereign rights with N MC —Tariff, sole rights for new house service connection & disconnection and ownership of assets

Other projects in the pipeline for Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited are Magadi 24x7 in Ramanagara district in the state of Karnataka. Bidar & Basavakalyan 24×7. The two towns of Bidar and Basavakalyan are located in the Bidar district of Karnataka.

Pressurized water supply throughout India is essential for daily survival. It’s a basic necessity for every living being. VIL aims to overcome this problem and make India a country with 24x7 Water Supply.

Arun Lakhani's views on Indian Urban Water Scenario

The rapidly urbanizing Indian population is expected to reach a figure close to 600 million urban people by 2031. This massive transition is creating serious challenges for urban planners and ULBs, especially which of ensuring quality water supply to these citizens. Indian cities have for long lived with intermittent water supply systems riddled with a variety of problems ranging from high levels of NRW to contamination issues. Some of the concerns with the urban water scenario are Non-Revenue Water ranging from 50 to 75%, Water supply coverage only about 64%, Intermittent Supply, Poor billing mechanism. Here’s what Mr. Arun Lakhani has to say as a solution to this situation several reforms have been initiated by the government which include introduction of performance linked PPP contracts, up gradation of existing ageing assets, 100% metering and efficient operation and maintenance of the supply system.

Water companies globally are developing technologies and management systems to deal with these challenges. Vishvaraj infrastructurelimited (VIL) however understands that the Indian context is different and it needs solutions which are local, competitive and socially acceptable. We develop implementation strategies keeping local situation in perspective as water is a very sensitive subject in our country. For us, driving innovations, creating sustainability, technological advancements, environmental friendliness and people’s involvement are the key drivers for the company in this sector.

Nagpur 24x7 The Project: The 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. The one big objective was to provide l00% safe drinking water 24×7 to l00% of the population including the slum-dwellers within 5 years. The second major objective was to reduce Non Revenue Water below 25% in 10 years time. The contract was awarded to Orange City Water Limited — a 50:50 joint venture SPV company incorporated with equal equity stake of Vishvaraj Environment Pvt. Ltd. and Veolia Water of France. The Private entity to bring in 3o% of the investment of the estimated project cost, 70% to be the Public entity’s contribution under MN URM + l00% escalation. The project to be operative for 25 years of O&M inclusive of 5 years of capital rehabilitation. The project covers management of the entire water cycle from production, treatment (657 MLD), transport (2100 Kms of network), storage and delivery to the last point of usage i.e. the customers tap. This involves replacement of more than 3,00,00 house service connections, rehabilitation of treatment facilities, service reservoirs and pipeline. Every household including slums to get individual continuous piped water supply connection. Involving people and to see their problems from their point view, is a key factor for the sustainable development in Water Sector especially through PPP. Therefore the concept of Citizen Engagement came into existence through various platforms. We are giving emphasis on communicating with all stakeholders for all our projects in water sector.

Why Nagpur’s Water Management is a good model according driven by Arun Lakhani

Every family has a tap and a meter irrespective of whether it is a slum, a flat or a bungalow. There is accountability for every drop of water supplied the first time,” says Arun Lakhani, chairman and managing director, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd (VIL India), which was put into effect the Nagpur Orange City Water Project. The goal of the project was to address problems of water that was being exhausted and not getting billed. The city was supplying 575 million litres per day (mld) of treated water of which only 175 mld was getting billed and paid for. Most meters were either non-existent or non functional. Also, the city was receiving water supply for eight to 10 hours or on alternate days. The tanker mafia added to the problem. On the sewage side, the city was generating 550 mld of sewage and had the capacity to treat only 100 mld. The remaining untreated sewage was polluting water bodies that supplied water to the city. For this project, the private company invested 30% of the estimated project cost, 70% grants came from the JNNURM scheme, shared by both the state and the Central government. The project was initiated by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. This project has showcased as the model case study for other cities at the launch of Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Smart City initiative. The company also undertook a waste water reuse project for Nagpur city under which National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will be reusing 200 mld of treated water from the STP for its Mauda plant. By doing so, the city will get an additional 200 million litres per day of water, which is enough for 200 lakh people.

“Currently, the industrial sector, which is one of the biggest consumers of water, is supplied fresh treated potable water. They can easily use waste water treated up to the secondary level. As much as 80% of the water being supplied to cities is right there. It only needs to be treated and supplied to industries. Good potable water that industries get can be swapped for residential and drinking purposes,” says Arun Lakhani. Out of a 1,000 ml litre per day supplied to a town, nearly 800 mld is coming back as sewage. Out of this almost 500 mld can be treated and supplied to commercial complexes, industries, thermal power stations and water city parks. This can solve water shortage problems in almost every town, he says.

Water, Waste Water Reuse and Transport by Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited

Water: The rapidly urbanizing Indian population is expected to reach a figure close to 600 million urban people by 2031. This massive transition is creating serious challenges for urban planners and ULBs, especially which of ensuring quality water supply to these citizens. Indian cities have for long lived with intermittent water supply systems riddled with a variety of problems ranging from high levels of NRW to contamination issues. As a solution to this situation several reforms have been initiated by the government which include introduction of performance linked PPP contracts, up gradation of existing ageing assets, 100% metering and efficient operation and maintenance of the supply system.  Water companies globally are developing technologies and management systems to deal with these challenges. VIL however understands that the Indian context is different and it needs solutions which are local, competitive and socially acceptable. We develop implementation strategies keeping local situation in perspective as water is a very sensitive subject in our country. For us, driving innovations, creating sustainability, technological advancements, environmental friendliness and people’s involvement are the key drivers for the company in this sector.

Waste Water Reuse:  In contrast the demand for fresh water is growing rapidly, estimated to go from 813 BCM today to 1,447 BCM by 2050, whereas the resource base remains constrained at 1,122 BCM. The industrial sector, which is one of the major users of fresh water, mostly puts fresh water to non-potable. Wastewater treated up to secondary level can easily be utilized for this purpose freeing up massive amounts of freshwater for domestic consumers. This can easily be achieved by improving the municipal wastewater collection, treatment and reuse thus not only recycling wastewater which is otherwise lost but also save the downstream water bodies from pollution. This is the win-win proposition of VIL’s model for the all the stakeholders, a unique example of creating value from waste whilst contributing positively to environmental sustainability.

Transport: Roads, the predominant mode of transportation in India carry almost 80 percent of the country’s passenger traffic and 65 percent of its freight. With a density of 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land India’s highway network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and much greater than China’s (0.16) or Brazil’s (0.20). India boasts of 3.3 million Kms of highways, with 80,000 Kms of National highways and 1, 31,000 Kms of State highways. Indian roads experienced a 10.16% CAGR of growth of vehicles in the last five years.

VIL spotted this opportunity way back in 2000 and strategically decided to stay focused on BOT projects. It made a humble start with the development of 8.3 Km Bypass road on BOT basis, which was one of the first BOT concessions awarded at that time. Those were tough times for the industry with stiff resistance from key stakeholders i.e. the commuters for paying toll for using the road. However, the concept matured well over time and VIL completed 4 projects well within stipulated construction time, the concession period for these range from 15 to 30 years.

Technology and Infrastructure by Arun Lakhani

The Chairman & Managing Director of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) Mr. Arun Lakhani says investing in expertise is just a stepping stones to developed and modern India. At Vishvaraj Infra (VIL India) we consider in creating value for every stakeholders by removing carefulessness. We consider ourselves as social entrepreneurs since Water, Waste Water and Transport; the sectors in which we have built our standing are closely interwoven with the lives of people. As business, apart from value creation for share holders they also impact happiness quotient of the people, thus offering enormous satisfaction to us for our life transforming work.

Here is what Mr. Arun Lakhani has to say the entire integrated water management project for Nagpur began with a simple idea that we want to have a continuous water supply sustaining Nagpur that means 24x7 water supply has to be provide to all the individual citizens. It was decided to improve the efficiency and bring in the new technology, a private sector expertise & to ensure that equitable water distribution this entire concept of 24x7 water supplies or continuous water supply was brought in.

24x7 water supple project was conceptualized to convert the terms of water supply to a round the clock one by fair distribution. The project kicked off with replacement of leaking pipes and house service connection. The target of Nagpur of 24x7 water supply project is to replace 600 kilometers of pipelines in the city and provide 3, 25,000 house service connections. It also aims to provide services like metering, billing, collection and customer service 3, 25,000 consumers. The project aims to undertake the operation and maintenance of water treatment plant to the capacity of 725 million liters per day. Decking up the 24x7 water supply project provided modern technology for treatment of water that in turn helped renovate the entire water network.

In addition to infrastructural and operational improvement technology was also introduced for monitoring and controlling the water flow. The use of SCADA system or supervisory control and data acquisition to monitor the entire urban water distribution system at one place made monitoring of the treatment plants extremely quick.

See Nagpur city is increasing and it is growing like anything. For a growing city most professional way of management is required for all the sectors. We have put GIS system, SCADA system lot of modern technological system which we can monitor the total city by sitting at a single point.

If on one hand modern technology made it easy to monitor Orange City Water it also helped the company become more accessible to the citizens. Orange City Water now has a dedicated call center to address customer grievances. The option of online billing has made transactions more convenient for customers. Orange City Waters is also to launch its mobile application in the near future.

Nagpur 24x7 - Sewage Treatment And Water Reuse By VIL India

The City – Nagpur
The 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years.

VIL India has been a proponent of PPP model, and has established track record in Road and highways sector.  With Urban Infrastructure foray in Water, it is today the only Indian Utility with ongoing projects in Water distribution as well as Waste water treatment and Reuse. With Water scarcity hitting the country in a big way, with sustainability point of view ,VIL’s example of Total Integrated water management at Nagpur is being followed by the whole nation. Treating Sewage as Water Source and reuse for commercial/industrial purpose is key to releasing fresh water used by Industry for drinking, without augmenting fresh sources.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited And Veoila France

India has gigantic necessity of Infrastructure building and improvement. The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing matrix between private and public. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited saw this prospect and decided to have a model for 24x7 water supply. Orange City Water (OCW) also popularly known as the Nagpur 24x7 Water supply along with Veoila France made this happen.

OCW will have to deliver a uninterrupted supply of drinking water to the homes of the 2.7 million people living in Nagpur, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, up from the current two to 12 hours a day. The service will be provided to the entire population of Nagpur, including the third of the population living in the city's slums. This will be a first in India. Orange City Water (OCW) will invested 18 million Euros in the project to renovate the city's six water production plants and repair the 2,500 km of network. The production capacity of the system managed by OCW will eventually be close to 750 million liters a day and leakage from the network, which is currently 60%, will gradually be lowered to international standards.

Vishvaraj Environment Pvt. Ltd. (VEL) is a subsidiary of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. (VIL), a transportation infrastructure development company from India. With a humble start over a decade ago with development of road project on BOT model, today VIL is successfully managing four concession contracts in transportation (road) sector and the fifth contract is under execution. Over this decade long journey, VIL has acquired knowledge to evolve systems in sectors where society at large is involved and all stakeholder's interests need to be understood and addressed, ensuring a win-win situation for all, more so in a developing and culturally diverse country like India. VIL India proposes to put to use this knowledge in few more sectors, water being a major focus area through its subsidiary Vishvaraj Environment. Vishvaraj Environment foresees a great opportunity for the private sector to participate in financing, building and maintaining urban water supply infrastructure projects and has geared itself to build the capacities for the future.

Veolia Water India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Veolia Water India Africa, which covers Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Veolia Water India Africa is 80.55% held by Veolia Water, with the remainder being held by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group institution in charge of operations with the private sector, and by PROPARCO, a subsidiary of the French development aid agency with a similar role. Veolia Water India Africa provides 3.16 million people with water and 1.42 million with electricity. It employs 2,191 people and offers partners its technical and managerial expertise to supply specific solutions in regions affected by water stress. Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and wastewater services. Specialized in outsourcing services for municipal authorities, as well as industrial and service companies, it is also one of the world's major designers of technological solutions and constructor of facilities needed in water and wastewater services. With 96,651 employees in 69 countries, Veolia Water provides water service to 103 million people and wastewater service to 73 million. Its 2011 revenue amounted to € 12.617 billion.

Orange City Water Pvt Ltd And Nagpur 24x7

Orange City Water (OCW) is managing the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Water Treatment Plants at Gorewada, all the Elevated Service Reservoirs, Ground Service Reservoirs, Master Balancing Reservoirs normally known as Water Tanks. Apart from the above major on- site departments the organization is well equipped with a strong back office support with departments like HR, Finance, PR, Administration, etc. Considering the mammoth job the company has to manage, it is expanding its base in all the ways horizontally and progressing vertically.

The Nagpur 24x7 or OCW has made a incredible impact on the lives of citizens of Nagpur with providing them with pressurized round the  clock water supply for all the zones of the city along with equitable distribution of water supply. India has vast prerequisite of Infrastructure building and improvement. The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing matrix between private and public. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL India) has been a proponent of PPP model, and has established track record in Road and highways sector.  With Urban Infrastructure foray in Water, it is today the only Indian Utility with ongoing projects in Water distribution as well as Waste water treatment and Reuse.

Awards Won By VIL India

Nagpur 24x7 is one of the splendid projects of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL). Here are few things about the project: The City – Nagpur the 3rd major city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a populace of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the nation to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. The one big objective was to provide l00% safe drinking water 24×7 to l00% of the population including the slum-dwellers within 5 years. The second major objective was to reduce Non Revenue Water below 25% in 10 years time. The contract was awarded to Orange City Water Limited — a 50:50 joint venture SPV company incorporated with equal equity stake of Vishvaraj Environment Pvt. Ltd. and Veolia Water of France. The project covers management of the entire water cycle from production, treatment (657 MLD), transport (2100 Kms of network), storage and delivery to the last point of usage i.e. the customers tap. This involves replacement of more than 3,00,00 house service connections, rehabilitation of treatment facilities, service reservoirs and pipeline. Social Inclusiveness was that every household including slums to get individual continuous piped water supply connection.

Mr. Arun Lakhani a man with a enormous vision and a forward thinker makes India proud as a nation. India has vast requirement of Infrastructure building and improvement. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd, which is heading Orange City Waters – Nagpur’s core Water Supply Manager, has managed to bring some moments of proud to the city. In the recently held World Water Leadership Congress and Awards in Mumbai, the company headed by Arun Lakhani has managed to make the cut with two prestigious awards. While Arun Lakhani, Chairman and Managing Director, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd have been individually honoured with World Water Leadership Awards for his Outstanding Contribution towards Water, his company Vishvaraj Infrastructure bagged the award for Best Water Reuse Project.

The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing matrix between private and public. VIL India has been a proponent of PPP model, and has established track record in Road and highways sector.  With Urban Infrastructure foray in Water, it is today the only Indian Utility with ongoing projects in Water distribution as well as Waste water treatment and Reuse.

Mr. Arun Lakhani lives by what he says “This award is the recognition of my team’s hard work which put in their efforts. It’s never a one person; it’s a team work – Satyajeet, Suresh and all of them. My congratulations to them.” His humility and respecting people has got him a far way.

Mr. Arun Lakhani goes on to say people are important to every project. And if we take their views and opinions, it benefits only only the citizens of the country but also India as a nation.

Malegaon – Manmad – Kopergaon Project By VIL India

Roads, the predominant mode of transportation in India carry almost 80 percent of the country’s passenger traffic and 65 percent of its freight. With a density of 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land India’s highway network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and much greater than China’s (0.16) or Brazil’s (0.20). India boasts of 3.3 million Kms of highways, with 80,000 Kms of National highways and 1, 31,000 Kms of State highways. Indian roads experienced a 10.16% CAGR of growth of vehicles in the last five years. Malegaon is a city and a Municipal Corporation in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Malegaon is second largest city of Nashik district after Nashik city itself. Malegaon is located at the confluence of Girna and Mausam rivers, at elevation of 438 metres (1437 feet) at 18.42°N 77.53°E. It is located at around 280 km northeast of state capital Mumbai. It has good connectivity with nearby cities like Nashik, Manmad, Mumbai and Dhule.

Manmad pronunciation is one of the cities in Nasik district in the state of Maharashtra state in India. It is the third largest city in Nasik district, with a population of approximately 200,000. It geographically lies within Nandgaon Tehsil in Nashik District. Though it is bigger in area as well as in population compared to most of the Tehsils in the district, it does not have a Tehsil office. Manmad Municipal corporation Provides water after 15 days by pipeline. Kopargaon is a town and municipality located in the Ahmednagar district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kopargaon is located about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from the holy town of Shirdi. Kopargaon Itself is also a holy place. The only temple of Daityaguru Shukracharya (Demons Guru) is located at Kopargaon. During that time a vidya called Sanjivani Viday was performed here to make alive to dead person. The main feature of this temple is any of the pooja, vidhi, marriage, narayan-nag bali poojan, kal-sarpa poojan can be performed here without any muhurta, and with best effects as said in Hindu holy books. Datta Par located at the banks of river Godavari is mentioned in Guru Charitra of Sai Baba, the temple of Datta Guru was established with the hands of Sri Sai Baba himself in year around 1910-1915. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL India) spotted this opportunity and created a transport project for Malegaon – Manmad – Kopergaon.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd And Veoila

India has vast requirement of Infrastructure building and improvement. The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing matrix between private and public. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd saw this opportunity and decided to have a model for 24x7 water supply. Orange City Water also popularly known as the Nagpur 24x7 Water supply along with Veoila f=France made this happen.

OCW will have to deliver a continuous supply of drinking water to the homes of the 2.7 million people living in Nagpur, 24 hours a day and seven days a week, up from the current two to 12 hours a day. The service will be provided to the entire population of Nagpur, including the third of the population living in the city's slums. This will be a first in India. Orange City Water (OCW) will invested 18 million euros in the project to renovate the city's six water production plants and repair the 2,500 km of network. The production capacity of the system managed by OCW will eventually be close to 750 million liters a day and leakage from the network, which is currently 60%, will gradually be lowered to international standards.

Fekri And VAPI Over Bridge Projects And Arun Lakhani

Vapi, is a city and municipality in Valsad District in the state of Gujarat. It is situated on the banks of the Damanganga River and is the largest city in the Valsad district and also the second largest city after Surat in South Gujarat.It can be called the most developed city in Gujarat followed by Ahemdabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. Around 28 km south of the district headquarters in the city of Valsad, it is surrounded by the Union Territories of Daman to the west and Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the east. Economic and industrial growth in recent decades has blurred the physical boundaries, and a small stretch of roughly 21 km of Daman-Vapi-Silvassa has almost become a single urban area. The town originally belonged to the community of Desai (Anavil Bramhins), Jains and other tribal castes later migrated to the city. It is the largest industrial area in Asia in terms of small-scale industries, dominated by the chemical industry.

It has been ranked 2 in the year 2008 among the most polluted places in the world, mainly due to its poor air and water quality caused by nearby industrial sites. People who have been living in the town have a lot of complaints about their health due to the pollution emissions happening almost every night from chemical factories. Arun Lakhani realized that Vapi was a good estate to invest in it. VIL India spotted this opportunity way back in 2000 and strategically decided to stay focused on BOT projects. It made a humble start with the development of 8.3 Km Bypass road on BOT basis, which was one of the first BOT concessions awarded at that time. Those were tough times for the industry with stiff resistance from key stakeholders i.e. the commuters for paying toll for using the road. However, the concept matured well over time and VIL India completed 4 projects well within stipulated construction time, the concession period for these range from 15 to 30 years.

Roads, the predominant mode of transportation in India carry almost 80 percent of the country’s passenger traffic and 65 percent of its freight. With a density of 0.66 km of highway per square kilometer of land India’s highway network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and much greater than China’s (0.16) or Brazil’s (0.20). India boasts of 3.3 million Kms of highways, with 80,000 Kms of National highways and 1, 31,000 Kms of State highways. Indian roads experienced a 10.16% CAGR of growth of vehicles in the last five years.

Fekri and VAPI over bridge Projects by Vishavaraj Infra: Railway Over Bridge on NH 6 (FEKARI) on Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis, for a period of 15 Years. Project SVP - Fekari Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India and is Operational (Since 2009). Another project: River Over Bridge on National Highway No. 6 on Pinglai River (VAPI) Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis, for a period of 13 Years. Project SVP - VHCPL ADCC Pinglai Infrastructure Private Limited (VAPI) for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India and is Operational (Since 2004).

PPP Model By Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited

Vishavaraj Infrastructure believes in involving the people’s input in every project that the nation takes on. VIL India believes in this philosophy due to it directly affects the citizens of the nation and taking their opinion is extremely important. As until and unless we as the management do not understand the problems faced by the people how do we come up with solutions. To bridge that gap Vishvaraj Infra came up with the model of including the 4th P in the PPP model.

At VIL India in the public private partnership PPP Model including the 4th P that is the people is extremely important and critical for any project. Ever since the Indian economy was opened and the procedure of liberlisation was set in, various private troupe added their might partnering with public enterprises in various sectors. PPP as a concept on paper brings in very good synergy of Private enterprise efficiency with Public ownership of assets. But in reality we see a trust deficit between the ultimate stakeholders, People on one hand and Government & Private 30 years can be a risk unless people are on boarded. Our answer to this situation is Involve / Integrate the Fourth P – People – citizens in the PPP Model enhancing its credibility.

PPP can be very successful if the fourth P- People are integrated in the structure with openness and liability of communicating with larger masses. People as largest stakeholders in any PPP must participate to monitor the contracts done between the two Ps. With the fourth P of People, PPP is enriched with a completely new dimension of a more humane face & greater sensitivity towards its largest stakeholder- the people. Every PPP project is conceived to benefit the People, but often in the dry domain of numbers this fact is lost sight of. The factoring in of this fourth P as a central focus has a completely transformative impact on the long-term success of the project. An analysis of failed PPP projects will bear out that the major cause of failure was the ‘People’ dimension being ignored. Without the active involvement of ‘People’ from conceptualisation to the final execution no PPP project can hope for long-term success. In the current context taking ‘People’ on-board with open communication & transparency is a business imperative for the Private Partner rather than a CSR initiative.

The Nagpur 24X7 project. Nagpur is the 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP Model for 25 years. The Objective was to provide l00% safe drinking water 24×7 to l00% of the population including the slum-dwellers within 5 years. The second major objective was to reduce Non Revenue Water below 25% in 10 years time.

Taking the people’s perspective has helped Nagpur 24x7 be a great success story.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited’s Sustainability & CSR

VIL India wishes to stand by its vision which is “Making positive changes to the lives of individuals, society and environment at large, by creating a socially responsible enterprise” and this clearly depicts from the innovative and suitable project concepts being successfully implemented by the company.

Today we are facing twofold problem wherein on one side we are facing water scarcity owing the ever-growing demand of water andto add to problem we have neglected building sewage treatment facilities. Today over 38,000MLD sewage goes to nature without adequate treatment. The conflict between farmers and industries over water is increasing. We must treat sewage as resource and use treated water for commercial purposes releasing the fresh water for domestic purposes.

Vishvaraj Infra was among the early players to identify the gaps in the water supply sector as well as the changing trends despite not being a player of the same industry.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure And Orange City Water (Nagpur 24x7)

India has vast requirement of Infrastructure building and improvement. The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing matrix between private and public. Vishvaraj Infrastructure (VIL India) has been a proponent of PPP model, and has established track record in Road and highways sector.  With Urban Infrastructure foray in Water, it is today the only Indian Utility with ongoing projects in Water distribution as well as Waste water treatment and Reuse.

VIL India also popular for the Orange City Water (OCW) project  is a joint venture of Veolia Water India Pvt. Ltd., the World Leader in Water Business and Vishwaraj Environment Ltd., one of India’s leaders in the infrastructure development. Established in November 2011, the organization is especially established for the execution of Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Uninterrupted Water Supply Scheme, popularly known as 24×7 Water Supply Scheme, under Central Government’s ambitious JnNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission).

We offer vital services to our customers throughout Nagpur and contribute to the fitness and wellbeing of the community. Our services involve planning, constructing, operating, treating, maintaining and distributing water resources throughout Nagpur. We always look forward to protect our surroundings from any health hazards. We are ambitious and have a clear vision of every aspect. Looking at the future, we aim to provide 24x7 water supplies with minimum interruptions to the flow of water.

The Vision was to ensure 24×7 drinking water supply at optimum pressure and of good quality, at reasonable rate, to every citizen of the city of Nagpur while ensuring sustainable development and management of the Nagpur’s water resources. Orange City Water has been handling Nagpur city’s water operations since March 2012. It is responsible for water operations from raw water catchment till bill collection, all over Nagpur.

With a workforce of about 400 employees on roll and still counting, Orange City Water Pvt. Ltd. has become the best service provider of waterworks in Nagpur. Apart from the on roll employees a large team of outsourced employees is supporting the routine organizational work. The company delivers high-quality, essential services to ensure the provision of safe, clean drinking water all over Nagpur. We meet our clients’ needs by nurturing local relationships that are conducive to sustainable water management.

Orange City Water is also managing the Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s Water Treatment Plants at Gorewada, all the Elevated Service Reservoirs, Ground Service Reservoirs, Master Balancing Reservoirs commonly known as Water Tanks. Apart from the above major on- site departments the organization is well equipped with a strong back office support with departments like HR, Finance, PR, Administration, etc. Considering the mammoth job the company has to manage, it is expanding its base in all the ways horizontally and progressing vertically.

The Nagpur 24x7 or OCW has made a tremendous impact on the lives of citizens of Nagpur with providing them with pressurized round the  clock water supply for all the zones of the city along with equitable distribution of water supply.

Waste Water Treatment By Vishvaraj Infrastructure

Waste water treatment is a process used to convert wastewater - which is water no longer needed or suitable for its most recent use - into an effluent that can be either returned to the water cycle with minimal environmental issues or reused. The latter is called water reclamation and implies avoidance of disposal by use of treated wastewater effluent for various purposes. Treatment means removing impurities from water being treated; and some methods of treatment are applicable to both water and wastewater. The physical infrastructure used for wastewater treatment is called a "wastewater treatment plant" The treatment of wastewater belongs to the overarching field of Public Works - Environmental, with the management of human waste, solid waste, sewage treatment, storm water (drainage) management, and water treatment. By-products from wastewater treatment plants, such as screenings, grit and sewage sludge may also be treated in a wastewater treatment plant. If the wastewater is predominantly from municipal sources (households and small industries) it is called sewage and its treatment is called sewage treatment. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) saw this A Civic Necessity and a Business Opportunity.

Waste Water Reuse By Vishvaraj Infra

Mr. Arun Lakhani the CMD of Vishvaraj Infra saw the Waste Water Reuse development as a Civic Necessity and a Business Opportunity. This project went on to become a huge success story with the Orange City Water and also popularly known as Nagpur 24x7 Water Supply project. The citizens of Nagpur are extremely happy and fortunate with the implementation of the waste water reuse model.

Here’s what Arun Lakhani saw differently and thought was it was about time to change. In contrast the demand for fresh water is growing rapidly, estimated to go from 813 BCM today to 1,447 BCM by 2050, whereas the resource base remains constrained at 1,122 BCM. The industrial sector, which is one of the major users of fresh water, mostly puts fresh water to non-potable. Wastewater treated up to secondary level can easily be utilized for this purpose freeing up massive amounts of freshwater for domestic consumers. This can easily be achieved by improving the municipal wastewater collection, treatment and reuse thus not only recycling wastewater which is otherwise lost but also save the downstream water bodies from pollution. This is the win-win proposition of VIL’s model for the all the stakeholders, a unique example of creating value from waste whilst contributing positively to environmental sustainability. Amongst the challenges thrown up by increased urbanization in India one of the bigger ones is massive increase in wastewater generation. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates that about 80 percent of the water supplied for domestic use is discharged as wastewater. This pollutes the downstream areas as it enters untreated into these water bodies. Around 38,250 MLD of wastewater is generated by class I and class II cities in India, which is estimated to grow 3.5 times to 132,250 MLD by 2050. The current wastewater treatment capacity can handle only 30 percent of the total generation, out of which too only 55 percent is operational. This translates to an investment gap of over USD 7 Billion for class I and class II cities by 2016-17.

VIL India saw this as a win win situation through the reuse model. The untreated sewage will not only be treated but the treated water will also be reused by thermal power plant or any other industry. Additional potable water currently used by industries will be available for drinking water supply. The urgency of the need of dams or additional infrastructure for meeting the drinking water requirements of the growing population will be pushed by number of years. The client may recover all its investment through the sale of treated water, thus, the STP for them would be constructed without any investment addressing the menace of untreated water.

200 MLD Waste Water Treatment Project in Nagpur. Nagpur is 10th largest Indian city with ~2.5 Mn population; Population is expected to grow to 5 Mn in the next 25 years. 3rd largest and most industrialized city after Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra. The Objective was Providing Sewage Treatment for 200 MLD and possible reuse by potential Customers in Nagpur.

Nagpur Municipal Corporation Sewage Treatment With Vishvaraja Infrastructure

The areas who are hit by the drought drastically particularly Maharashtra is an alarming situation. Here’s what Mr. Arun Lakhani has to say about the rising water crisis. Our 89% of the total available water of around 890 cubic meter goes into agriculture, of the balance 11% goes to industry and drinking water needs are met. We need better management of water. The coverage of piped water, the metering of water and the adequate supply of 24 hours of pressurized water these are the three steps. So to bring first to the equitable water, we need to design the system, invest money into the infrastructure and more importantly have budgets to maintain it what we have already built.

According to HPEAC report in 2011 only 64% of the population received piped supply of water, more than 50% of water losses occurred due to leak in pipes. The duration of water supply is not much; it ranges from an hour to 6 hours daily. The national statistics on number of meters provided to the population stands to the lowest at 4% and only 30% of sewage water is treated as far as larger towns are concerned. Situation is far worse in smaller towns where the figure is as low as 3%. Fortunately for people of Nagpur, the authorities decided to act on time. And Orange City Water was implemented.

What is required is an integrated approach to water management, by integrated approach we need to see the complete water cycle as a whole. So we detect it from a source, then the treatment part then the distribution part then the customer service part. So if you have Nagpur 24x7 in the distribution part that definitely improves not only the water quality & drinking water but also saves water. Then comes the second very important part is the sewage treatment. Sewage treatment and the reuse of sewage treated water complete the cycle.

The entire integrated water management project for Nagpur 24x7 began with a simple concept that we want to have a continuous water supply sustaining Nagpur that means 24x7 water supply has to be provide to all the individual citizens. It was decided to improve the efficiency and bring in the new technology, a private sector expertise & to ensure that equitable water distribution this entire concept of 24x7 water supply or continuous water supply was brought in.

Nagpur 24x7 water supply project was conceptualized to convert the terms of water supply to a round the clock one by equitable distribution. The project kicked off with replacement of leaking pipes and house service connection. The target of Nagpur of 24*7 water supply project is to replace 600 kilometers of pipelines in the city and provide 3, 25,000 house service connections. It also aims to provide services like metering, billing, collection and customer service 3, 25,000 consumers. The project aims to undertake the operation and maintenance of water treatment plant to the capacity of 725 million liters per day.

Nagpur Muncipal Corporation decided to act on this matter along with Vishvaraj infrastructure Limited and they are victorious and have achieved good results. Now the citizens of Nagpur get pressurized water supply round the clock.

Waste Water Treatment Plants By Vishvaraj Infrastructure

The water crisis in India has been in the uproar of the nation. With areas touched with drought and no water to drink it’s been a major concern for one and all in the country.  Amongst the challenges thrown up by increased urbanization in India one of the bigger ones is massive increase in wastewater generation. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates that about 80 percent of the water supplied for domestic use is discharged as wastewater. This pollutes the downstream areas as it enters untreated into these water bodies. Around 38,250 MLD of wastewater is generated by class I and class II cities in India, which is estimated to grow 3.5 times to 132,250 MLD by 2050. The current wastewater treatment capacity can handle only 30 percent of the total generation, out of which too only 55 percent is operational. This translates to an investment gap of over USD 7 Billion for class I and class II cities by 2016-17.

Here is what Mr. Arun Lakhani CMD of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited, VIL has to say about the situation at hand - What is required is an integrated approach to water management, by integrated approach we need to see the complete water cycle as a whole. So we detect it from a source, then the treatment part then the distribution part then the customer service part. So if you have 24x7 in the distribution part that definitely improves not only the water quality & drinking water but also saves water. Then comes the second very important part is the sewage treatment. Sewage treatment and the reuse of sewage treated water complete the cycle. Sewage treatment or waste water treatment has been on Mr. Arun Lakhani’s mind for a while.

Think Of The Environment when Thinking Buiness, VIL India

When you begin a project, it is always pertinent by first thinking about the environment. From whether the said project could harm the environment to whether the said project can improve the environment, everything must be looked at with a microscopic eye. 

A company that does this is Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) who has been leading the way, especially in areas or water, waste water and infrastructure and its chairman and director, Mr Arun Lakhani, is a believer of such a policy. Simply put, companies need to address and find solutions based and focused on larger environmental issues.