Technology transfer for improving wastewater management in Indian industries

India has experienced rapid economic growth as a result of advancing industrialisation in recent years. This has raised the average standard of living in India, but at the same time has had a negative impact on the environment. Thus, India urgently needs innovative technologies in the fields of cleaner production and resource and energy efficiency to reduce resource consumption while continuing on the path of growth. There are particularly large potentials for improving industrial wastewater management as water is a valuable and scarce resource in many parts of India. State-of-the-art technologies and international expertise could help India to optimise its industrial wastewater management.

Against this background, adelphi is supporting GIZ under the Sustainable and Environment-friendly Industrial Production (SEIP) project to determine the feasibility of an environmental technology platform for industrial wastewater in India. On this platform, international technology solutions for industrial wastewater management can be presented. Through direct interactions between technology providers and Indian companies, technology transfer is to be supported. The platform is intended to provide multiple services:

• Technical information (e.g. descriptions of technologies and techniques, cost aspects, best practices)
• Knowledge transfer (e.g. through workshops, webinars and conferences)
• Networking (e.g. contacts of international technology and service providers)

While the implementation of the platform is the overarching long-term goal, the focus of this project is on developing a pre-feasibility study for setting up such a platform hosted by an Indian organisation or company.

For the platform to be successful it is of utmost importance to understand the stakeholders’ needs and interests as well as the shortcomings of existing services. This is to be achieved by conducting in-depth interviews with qualified experts and an analysis of existing platforms and networks. The findings from this analysis will enable the identification of suitable platform hosts/partners from India and Germany and the elaboration of necessary conditions for a financially sustainable business model.