NEW DELHI: India Inc is slowly moving towards meeting the Swachh Bharat targets for building toilets across the country and is adopting innovative tools to meet the goals and stay within reasonable cost.

While public sector companies such as Coal India and NTPC are way ahead of the private sector, Bharti, Infosys, Mahindra, TCS and Toyota are leading the pack, together building 8,000 toilets so far. M&M is expected to meet its target of building the remaining 1,500 toilets by August 3, and Toyota 500.

Bharti has built 4,000 toilets, although not all of them are under the government’s sanitation programme meant for schools. Auto major Toyota has scaled up its toilet building plan and has constructed over 268 of the 500 toilets using modern water conservation technology, while Hindustan Zinc is nearing the 450 mark. CII said, out of 4,000 toilets to be built by it and its members, 3,900 have been completed.

Companies say the cost of construction is not high. For instance, Mahindra is building a toilet block with five units at Rs 2.3 lakh each, while Toyota — which has the toilets designed specially by its team — is spending around Rs 2 lakh per toilet. From e-toilets to chemical toilets and double pit ones companies are trying everything.

On the face of it, it seems Indian companies have accepted the challenge in right earnest and have fanned out across the country building toilets in remote areas and trying to fulfill the promise to PM Narendra Modi.

For several companies, the Swachh Bharat initiative has emerged as a key component of its clean manufacturing process. Companies are using latest technology to suit different areas and the focus is on low maintenance and water use. “Sanitation projects is not just a CSR activity but a small contribution by Toyota to educate today’s young students about the basic hygiene and the importance of clean environment for the future growth of India,” said Toyota Kirloskar MD Naomi Ishii.

India Inc has a few complaints too. For one, information flow is poor and the scheme got off to a slow start, it says. The biggest challenge was selecting the location as companies wanted to build the units near their area of operation. The other worry was related to maintenance as companies did not want the money to sink.