Indian state to implement eight drinking water projects

The state government of Tamil Nadu in India is expected to implement drinking water projects worth about INR15bn ($293.8m).

The government’s eight drinking water projects will be implemented in fiscal 2012 in Cuddalore, Coimbatore, Tiurpur and Tirunelveli districts and are expected to benefit 4.436 million people.

Tamil Nadu will spend a further INR7bn ($137.12m) on supplying drinking water to areas coming under the expanded Chennai Corporation city limits, reports the Economic Times.

In a policy note, minister for Municipal Administration and Rural Development, K P Munusamy also said the government was looking at setting up a third desalination plant near Chennai to supply 400 million litres of water per day.

"Action has been taken to identify land and fix the consultancy for conducting feasibility studies, including financial viablity, preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR), tender documents and evaluation of bids for the proposed plant," he said.

Two desalination plants, with a capacity of 100 million litres per day each, are being built in Minjur and Nemmeli near Chennai.