Marking World Environment Day, Both Companies to Expand Roles in Meeting Country's Growing Water Needs.

New Delhi: Hyderabad-based environment and waste management firm Ramky Enviro Engineers has entered into a deal with diversified  engineering conglomerate GE to develop emergency water and industrial wastewater treatment agreements specifically designed to meet industrial wastewater treatment and recycling needs in India.

Founded in 1994-95, Ramky is a specialist multidisciplinary organisation with a turnover of around Rs2,500 crore and operates in civil, environmental and waste management infrastructure with specific emphasis on participatying in public-private partnership' projects.

Under the agreement, GE's ultra filtration (UF) and membrane bioreactor (MBR) technology will be utilised by Ramky for wastewater treatment and recycling in the industrial sector.

The need for advanced wastewater treatment in this sector is expected to rise by approximately 18 per cent each year, according to estimates by Global Water Intelligence: India Market Report. This demand is driven by new regulations combined with greater efforts from the industry to meet environmental responsibilities.

Shortage for process water in most parts of the country is also driving the need for recycling of wastewater.

Ramky and GE also will bring the innovative concept of mobile water treatment plants to the Indian water sector. Set up in containers and mounted on trucks, these plants can be moved quickly to destinations with emergency water requirements. The mobile plants also can help meet water requirements during periods of project implementation and construction as well as during the summer season when water shortage is endemic in India.

''This agreement with GE, a world-class technology provider, combines our strengths and capabilities in EPC and wastewater management with GE's latest technological solutions," says Raman Nanda, managing director and CEO of Ramky Enviro.

Nanda says "This will enable us to provide our customers with reliable, state-of-the-art and cost-effective water reuse systems. With the country and the industry facing major challenges in the availability of water, this announcement by Ramky Enviro on the eve of the World Environment Day reflects its commitment and contribution to the national environmental cause,''

GE and Ramky have started working with industry segments such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, automotive, non-ferrous metals and tanneries. They are implementing projects in effluent treatment based on MBR and UF technologies at several sites including Pharma CETP, Pattancheru (Hyderabad), NTC, and Volkswagen India Ltd., Pune. ''The agreement emphasizes pilot studies prior to the implementation of projects, which leads to developing the right solutions the first time,'' noted Mr. Nanda.

''We are excited about the new relationship between two strong companies that bring complementary technologies, operational experience, solid industry reputations and best-in-class service to customers in India,'' said H Bala, country executive, water and process technologies for GE Power and Water.

''We are confident that our proven products, application expertise and technologies are an excellent fit for industrial effluent treatment and reuse requirements of Indian industry.''

The new agreement with Ramky further expands GE's water sector presence in India, where GE has set up its water application and design engineering team at Bangalore. This GE India engineering team will support training for Ramky's application engineering and service teams as well as customers' operational teams. GE's manufacturing facilities at Hoskote near Bangalore are in the process of integrating the local production of many of the required products, which also will reduce the need for imports.

World Environment Day 2010 is aimed to be the biggest, most widely-observed global day for positive, environmental action. Commemorated on 5 June since 1972, World Environment Day is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and encourages political attention and action.

The agenda is to provide a human face to environmental issues, empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development, promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues and advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.