Toronto-based engineering firm R.V. Anderson Associates Ltd. has formed a joint venture with Japanese and Indian consulting firms to identify, develop and pursue engineering assignments in India funded by the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“It’s a pretty big market,” said company president Ken Morrison, whose firm has completed several infrastructure projects in India since 1994 and is currently involved in a $1 billion wastewater treatment and collection system project in the city of Mumbai.
“The Indian government has indicated it plans to invest nearly $1 trillion in its infrastructure in the coming five years. The water and wastewater sector alone is estimated to be worth $4 billion a year. It is growing at a rate of 10 to 12 per cent a year.
”Major investments are being made, and continue to be made, in infrastructure.”
The joint venture, with Original Engineering Consultants Co. Ltd. of Tokyo and PHE Consultants of Mumbai, is targeting projects in the water and wastewater sector that are eligible for funding under the JICA program.
In the 2010 fiscal year, the agency provided an estimated $1.6 billion in loans and grants for various infrastructure projects in India.
“Collaborating with a Japanese partner is either an advantage or mandatory, depending on whether the Japanese funding is tied,” Morrison said, noting that some future projects are expected to involve public-private partnerships.
Original Engineering has 50 years of experience in providing consulting services on a wide range of projects associated with water supply, wastewater and solid waste in a number of countries in the region, including South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore.
For its part, PHE Consultants has provided consulting services on projects in India for 30 years. It has partnered with R.V. Anderson since the Canadian firm won its first substantial contract in India, a World Bank funded study of improvements to Mumbai’s wastewater collection and treatment operations.
A master plan was subsequently drafted. Implementation of the project got under way in 2006.
‘We have just finished our first five-year contract with the city to implement the works identified in the master plan,” Morrison said. “We are finalizing a three-year extension to that contract to continue with implementation of these projects.”
Completed activities to date include the design of several sewage pumping stations as well as the design of major sewer tunnels for expansion of the sewage collector system.
Also completed are preliminary engineering and procurement documents for design-construct-operate contracts for three of the eight planned wastewater treatment plant expansions and/or developments.
Morrison said a major challenge has been the ongoing adaptation of the overall project plans to keep pace with evolving regulatory requirements for wastewater treatment and disposal “while trying to move forward with implementation activities.”
One of the projects the joint venture with Original Engineering and PHE Consultants Is eyeing is a proposed industrial corridor between Delhi and Mumbai. The project will involve development of infrastructure in towns and cities along the route, including water and wastewater facilities.
“The Japanese have committed to provide a huge amount of money by way of loans and grants for that corridor,” Morrison said.
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