The CII recently organised its National Award for Excellence in Water Management, a competition in which a range of industries participated.

As the Indian economy grows at a rapid nine per cent, the use of water by industries will also grow at the same rate. While agriculture will continue to remain the largest consumer of water, it is expected that the demand from industries will also rise rapidly. Industries demand water at a point and discharge water at a point and therefore sustainable management of water is crucial not only to the industry but to the neighbourhood as well.

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recently organised its National Award for Excellence in Water Management 2007 competition in the Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre in Hyderabad. A range of industries participated in the competition organized in two categories — 'Within the fence' and 'Beyond the fence'. The way many industries highlighted their projects indicated how seriously they are taking management of water resources which is identified as one of the key resources, apart from energy, to be looked at as a critical input for sustaining growth.

In the component called 'Within the fence', industries looked at conducting water audits and water flow charts to understand from source to sink where water was being used in their business and how consumption could be measured effectively and managed for efficiency. By using an indicator called 'specific water consumption' which measures production against unit consumption of water, industries were able to benchmark themselves against national and global standards of water efficiency. That many industries were ahead of global benchmarks in this respect was a heartening sign.

The convenor of the event, L.S. Ganapati, has been constantly challenging the competitors to better themselves over their earlier efforts, literally to benchmark themselves once global standards are reached and this seemed to be the spirit of the efforts.

Read More On: The Hindu