ET Bureau by Payal Ganguly
HYDERABAD: As growing consumption stokes fears of acute water scarcity, the demand for technology to purify and reuse waste-water is creating opportunity for several startups that focus on the area.
These ventures are drawing investor interest as they target markets in India as well as West Asia and Africa. Many of them offer products and services that help in recycling and cleaning up water resources in high-density urban areas and provide safe potable water for rural communities. "High rise complexes, hotels, hospitals and offices require an efficient product which is not cumbersome to operate," said Arun Dubey, director of Mumbai-based Jaldhara Technologies, which provides water treatment solutions under the Greywater brand. The four-year-old company that received seed funding of 18 crore from Nexus Venture Partners plans to raise further capital this year. Water shortage is ranked among the top-five global risks, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2013.
Worldwide, the market for water and waste water treatment equipment is valued at $34.59 billion as estimated by consultancy Frost and Sullivan. In India, government investments in water and waste water infrastructure and policy support for private sector participation in the industry is driving entrepreneurial activity.
Six months ago, Gautam Patella set up Shresht Industries in Hyderabad to build water purification systems that work as community water plants in rural districts. "We are looking at addressing office needs as well as that of district water management agencies," he said. Demand is growing for such technology in markets such as West Asia and Africa as well where the water and waste water treatment market is likely to be valued at $ 8.85 billion by 2015.
"Apart from a strong presence in rural India, especially in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, we are focusing on markets across 33 countries including Dubai, Tunisia and Somalia," said Karunakara M Reddy, founder of Smaat India. The eight-year-old company has raised 6 crore in seed funding. Its products range from commercial reverse-osmosis and desalination plants to bottled water.
Jaldhara is also looking to expand operations overseas with demand seen as highest in water-starved areas such as the Middle East and Africa. "The company's plug-and-play model for water treatment backed by research and development excites us," said Nexus Venture's Anup Gupta who said his fund would continue to back Jaldhara. In a market dominated by small and medium businesses that assemble components for purification systems, this new breed of startups that offer technology-based solutions are grabbing both investor and customer attention.
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