IFAT India capitalises on booming Indian wastewater sector

India is currently experiencing the worst water crisis in its history and the demand for the vital resource will continue to rise. With a share of 79 percent, farming still is India’s largest consumer of water. However, the wastewater management industry is catching up; while the industrial sector accounted for five percent of the total of 634 billion cubic meters of water, the demand will quadruple by 2030 according to the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). An outlook that provides a boost to the country’s industrial wastewater management industry.

One thing is clear for Bhupinder Singh, CEO of Messe München India and organiser of IFAT India – a leading environmental technology trade fair; “In view of the acute scarcity of water, the industry is more than ever before required to treat wastewater and then reuse it. We can simply no longer afford to not make maximum use of our most valuable resource.” Many sectors such as the chemical, pharmaceutical or food industry use large amounts of water for manufacturing and processing, washing processes, dilution or for cooling purposes. Indian companies increasingly invest in treating the resulting wastewater: according to BMWi, experts expect the expenditures on corresponding technologies to grow annually by five to ten percent.

German companies that already operate on the Indian water and sewage market confirm the increased demand for solutions for treating industrial wastewater. For companies from abroad, Christian Ziemer, Manager Business Development and Strategy, Water and Wastewater at Siemens AG not only sees market opportunities in cooperating with large Indian businesses; also small and medium-sized companies increasingly invest in innovative water and wastewater solutions. Here, he anticipates an annual growth rate of ten to twelve percent. “In India, there is heightened demand for higher-value technologies that meet the legal requirements which have become stricter,” Ziemer explains. Franz Heindl, Director International Sales at Huber SE shares this view: “This sector’s market potential currently is higher than the one of municipal sewage treatment, as the statutory provisions put enormous pressure on companies that in turn need to react fast. In the medium to long term, however, the municipal need will by far exceed the industrial one.”

In technological terms, for large Indian companies Jürgen Hannak, Senior Project Manager at adelphi sees a need for high filtration and oxidation systems, solutions for sewage sludge disposal and for energy management solutions in sewage treatment plants. Also challenges due to “microplastics” and “pharmaceuticals in wastewater” are increasingly discussed now and the recovery of chemical compounds such as phosphorus meanwhile come to the centre of attention. “Indian enterprises are primarily interested in system solutions. Conventional component solutions do already exist,” Hannak says. This, just as in the field of human resources, mainly requires collaborative projects.

In addition to other solutions for sewage, water, waste and recycling, exhibitors at IFAT India – which will open its doors from October 15 to 17, 2018 in the Bombay Exhibition Centre (BEC) in Mumbai – will present innovative technologies for industrial wastewater management. After the successful outcome in the previous year – 6,765 professional visitors and 184 exhibitors – this year also pledges to be record breaking: with an exhibition space expanded by almost 50 percent IFAT India 2018 expects around 200 exhibitors. Education and training of specialist staff is also on the agenda of IFAT India, tailored to the particular needs of the Indian environment sector, the Active Learning Center will offer practical training, live demonstrations and professional competitions for young talents and skilled workers.