The Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited (GWIL) on Saturday, signed a concession agreement with Essel Infraprojects for setting up a 100 million litre per day (MLD) desalination plant in Jodiya taluka of Jamnagar. Essel will design, build, finance, operate and transfer the plant, which will convert sea water to drinking water, and help in overcoming water scarcity in parched areas. The concession agreement for the Rs 1,000 crore desalination plant was signed in the presence of chief minister Vijay Rupani and other senior officials. "This is the largest Public Private Partnership (PPP) investment for a SWRO (sea water reverse osmosis) desalination project in the country. The plant will be ready in 30 months, and will supply 10 crore litre of treated high quality water to water grid of Gujarat for the next 25 years," Essel said in a release. Speaking on the occasion, CM Rupani said the desalination plant in Jodiya is just the beginning, and there are plans to set up a series of such plants in the state. "We will set up 7-8 plants along the state's coast, which will help in making water crisis a thing of the past," he said. Essel Group chairman Dr Subhash Chandra said, "Clean drinking water is a primary requirement, and we are committed to help Gujarat develop its water infrastructure by bringing in latest technology and investments. I appreciate chief minister Vijay Rupani's initiative to make Gujarat self sufficient in water resources." JP Gupta, principal secretary, water resources, said that the desalinated water would be supplied to urban and rural areas of Rajkot and Jamnagar, and rural areas of Morbi, which would boost water availability in these places. The desalination plant is also expected to reduce the state's heavy dependence on Narmada for meeting its water requirement. Essel Infraprojects said in a release that the desalination plant will have availability of 95 per cent or more, and would supply water without any interruption. "The plant will provide complete water security against weather conditions and other natural interruptions," it said. The company has tied up with Abengoa of Spain, a world leader in desalination technology, for the project. Essel said that the plant would use proven technology of sea water reverse osmosis and convert sea water to drinking water quality as per stringent quality standards. The technology works on the RO principles using high pressure of 80 Bar and passing seawater through RO membrane. It said that treated water from such plants is normally even better then drinking grade water.

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