KWA bottling plants in all districts soon

ARUVIKKARA: The Kerala Water Authority (KWA) plans to set up packaged drinking water plants at all district headquarters in the State. Subject to technical feasibility, these plants would be set up over the next few years, said Minister for Water Resources N.K. Premachandran here on Monday.

He was speaking after laying the foundation stone for a packaged drinking water plant to come up near the 72-mld treatment plant of the KWA. When this is done, the KWA will be the leading player in the packaged drinking water market in Kerala.

The government will begin refurbishing the former �primo pipe factory at Chavara this financial year. Initially, the factory will produce PVC pipes required by the KWA. Later, the plant will manufacture high density polyethylene(HDPE) pipes and water meters too, Mr. Premachandran said.

The KWA is foraying into the packaged water business at a time when it faces a widening gap between its revenue income and expenditure. As such, the non-tariff income from packaged water will serve to bridge the Authoritys revenue gap, if only partially. This income will also help the authority pay its power bills and avoid disconnections at its facilities across the State. Moreover, the Authority can avoid hiking its water tariff.