‘Cost of buying water at several places is double to that of recycling it’

Indian cities reel under the effect of climate crisis, including that of water, and the industry, though, a smaller consumer of water should pay for it, said Chairman of CII–Godrej GBC Jamshyd N Godrej.

Mr Godrej was speaking at the 15th GBC Foundation Day celebrations on Saturday where he said, “I was at the late C K Prahalad memorial lecture in Coimbatore a few days ago and I concentrated on water. There are two aspects to water: one is water for agriculture which is a major consumer and the other aspect is water used by industry. Industry needs to pay for water, which it is not doing.”

He opined that the cost of buying water at several places is double to that of recycling it. There is a need to think of an ‘economic incentive’ to get the correct pricing and usage of water. “And even though the industry is a small part in the usage of water, it can set the tone for the rest of the country,” Mr Godrej said.

Underscoring Telangana’s solar power generation and distribution model, Special Chief Secretary of the Energy Department Ajay Misra said that the State follows a decentralised generation model, which is different from the solar park model. He said that 3,800 MW of solar power is generated from 183 locations. It is on account of this that transmission and generation losses are reduced and has led to a saving of ₹ 50 crore per year.

“If this 3,500 MW was commissioned at three or four locations, we would have had to create much more infrastructure for transmission and distribution which we did not have to at that point of time. And we have saved about ₹ 450 crore three years ago,” he said.

The solar rooftop power generation stood at 92 MW of which 90% is from Hyderabad. The State has received A++ rating for its progress in generation of rooftop solar. Mr Misra said that the State stands second in country-wide rankings.