Tata's clean water drive
The Times of India — January 14, 2008

If the sight of four family members on one scooter in heavy rains moved Ratan Tata to manufacture the Rs 1 lakh-car Nano, another human hardship that has touched his heart is the lack of access to safe drinking water for millions of people in the country. Tata and his team have been working towards finding a low-cost solution to this problem with a water purification system.

Group company TCS, as part of its social initiatives, has developed a rice husk ash-based water filter at the Pune-based Tata Research Development and Design Centre. Like Nano, the water filter project too has been on for a few years. Asia's largest software services firm has introduced these filters in India's water-starved pockets, like Maharashtra, for instance. TCS patented this product in 2005-06.

It is a simple method to provide potable water, whereby the filter uses commonly available materials like rice husk ash, cement and pebbles. The filtering medium is made up of rice husk ash, which contains activated silica and carbon that helps remove colour, odour and micro-organisms. The system does not cost over Rs 200.

Tata Industries, an incubator of ideas and an investor in sunrise industries, has identified opportunities in water, including making seawater drinkable and purifying sewage into potable water. Interestingly, group firm and home appliances maker Voltas, also undertakes water management and treatment projects. Tata Projects is setting up drinking water plants to treat subterranean water polluted by fluoride (defloridation units) in rural areas of Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, as part of a community initiative.

Like Jusco, a part of Tata Steel which manages water operations in Jamshedpur, Tata Chemicals too is looking at a similar project in areas with chronic water shortage. It also plans to develop water purification systems.

Recently, Tata Tea entered the packaged water business by acquiring the Himalaya water brand. Not long ago, Tatas had a significant presence in water purifiers through Aquaguard brand, a part of Forbes Gokak. They exited the venture by selling their interests to Shapoorji Pallonji group in early 2000.

The water purification market in recent years has caught the attention of multinationals. Hindustan Unilever launched Pureit in 2005, while Philips India launched Philips Intelligent Water Purifier in 2007. Aquaguard continues to be the leader in this category, where the penetration of water purifiers is a mere 2.5%.