Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray gives nod for Rs1,600-crore desalination project for Mumbai

After tapping about six possible locations, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) finalised Manori

To tide over the shortage of drinking water faced by Mumbai, Maharashtra chief minister (CM) Uddhav Thackeray on Monday gave a go-ahead to a desalination project with a capacity of 200 MLD (million litres per day). The ₹1,600-crore project to be set up on around 30 acres at Manori, Malad, is expected to be completed in four years if everything goes as per the plan.

CM Uddhav Thackeray said that the project will help in make up the shortfall of potable water in summer due to late arrival of monsoon or shortfall in expected water stock. (HT FILE)

After tapping about six possible locations, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) finalised Manori. The plant will have the capacity to expand to 400 MLD in the future, which can make up for the shortfall of 10% (of the total water consumption of the city of 3,800 MLD) when there is poor rainfall.

“The detailed project report will be prepared in about nine months and will need another three months to complete the tendering process. The actual completion of the project will need about three more years. The site was finalised by our technical team as it has no mangrove around it, has good quality of water and is connected by roads, among other reasons. We also had tapped five other locations, including Versova, Gorai, Malad, among others,” said P Velrasu, additional civic commissioner, BMC.

Thackeray said that the project will help in make up the shortfall of potable water in summer due to late arrival of monsoon or shortfall in expected water stock. “Many other countries have already set up such projects or are in the process of it. If operated on solar, the operational cost of the project will reduce significantly. We have government land available at the site and no habitat around it, making it suitable,” he said.

The operational cost of the desalination plant is, however, higher than the dam-based water-supply projects and has been one of the reasons behind the delay to the project, which has been planned for years. The BMC expects it to be 50% more than its existing system of dam based water supply.

“We expect it to be Rs30 per kilolitre against the existing cost for dam-based projects of Rs20 per kilolitre after using solar power for generation. Over a period of time, the cost will come down. The project will be operated on a need-base mechanism, like other countries such as Australia, during the period of the shortfall to keep the overall operation cost low. Another advantage of the project is that it is climate neutral,” Velrasu said.

He said that the capital cost of the project was same as the dam-based projects. “The cost of 400 MLD Gargai dam project is Rs4,000 crore, whereas the 200MLD desalination project is costing us Rs1,600 crore,” he said.