Bluewater Bio International, the provider of high-performance and highly cost-effective water and wastewater treatment technologies, has been invited to join Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change, Greg Barker, on the UK Government’s trade mission to India between 17th and 21st February 2013.
The invitation, which BwB is delighted to have accepted, comes just a few months after entering into a partnership agreement with Tatva Global Environmental Ltd, one of India’s largest environmental services conglomerates, to market BwB’s compact, high throughput, low energy filtration product – FilterClear™.
Under the agreement Tatva Global Environmental Ltd (“Tatva”) will not only market the FilterClear technology but also take responsibility for the local assembly and integration of product supplied BwB. The remit of the agreement is expected to expand beyond India, with Tatva planning to broaden its marketing into South East Asia as a whole.
The first filter vessel to be ordered under this partnership has already been delivered to the Nirlon Science and Knowledge Park’s ‘green campus’ in Mumbai’s western suburbs. FilterClear is being incorporated by Tatva into an 840 m3/day water reuse system, valued at £170,000, for this ground-breaking eco-development centred around a 200,000 sq ft traffic-free central park. (www.nirlonltd.com/green_campus.html )
This initial order at Nirlon gives BwB a foothold in a water and wastewater equipment market valued at INR 102 billion (£1.2 billion) by 2016, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 10.1 per cent1. In addition to FilterClear, BwB is seeking commercial and academic partners in India with whom to roll-out its growing technology portfolio, which also includes HYBACS® (HYbrid ACtivated Sludge) and GHG-Tox (nitrification & greenhouse gas monitoring).
Together, Bluewater Bio and Tatva are ideally positioned to share in India’s increasing prosperity, with population growth, expanding disposable incomes and changing lifestyles predicted to double1 the demand for water by 2050. Water supply, irrigation and sanitation are central to India’s emergence as a global commercial powerhouse, accounting for 17 per cent of spending under the Government’s 12th five year plan (2011) 1.
Trade and Investment Minister Lord Green said: “We are on track to double our trade with India by 2015. India has the potential to become one of the largest markets in the world. Bluewater Bio are rightly recognising that they can reap the rewards of looking outside Europe for trading partners, selling goods and services to high growth markets outside the EU.”
“Government is clear that we must build deeper ties with India. This means supporting and encouraging a range of companies, both large and small, to do business there in the future, and I am delighted that Bluewater Bio are part of the delegation for this trip.”
Bluewater Bio was established in the UK in early 2007 and has rapidly grown to employ a commercial and engineering team of 30, in London and Glasgow, plus an indirect workforce of up to 300 – including a large contractor base on the Tubli Bay sewage plant upgrade in Bahrain.
BwB currently funds two PhD students in water sciences at Cranfield University and runs an apprenticeship scheme at its London office.
Over 95% of BwB’s equipment is UK sourced, from a network of more than 20 small, traditional engineering firms – centred largely around the country’s manufacturing heartland in the West Midlands.
BwB’s support to UK manufacturing is underpinned by a market-leading R&D programme, sponsoring technology development in the UK within Severn Trent Water, Thames Water, Anglian Water, and Scottish Water. Through its Water Innovate team, the tech transfer business acquired from Cranfield University in September 2010, BwB is committed to the continuous improvement of its core products, the development of new water and wastewater innovations and the identification of third party technologies for potential acquisition or licensing.
Jai Shroff, owner and MD of Tatva Global Environmental, commented: “We at Tatva are very pleased to add Bluewater Bio’s technologies to our suite of environmental solutions in our continued efforts to be at the forefront of technology leadership in the environment industry. We expect to add substantial value to our clients by offering a technology which out-performs existing solutions on a host of parameters.”
Daniel Ishag, CEO of BwB, concluded: “This high level delegation to India is another major milestone for Bluewater Bio as we expand our global coverage. We are delighted not only to have found a partner of Tatva’s scale and reputation for our first foray into India, but also to be commissioning our first joint installation at an eco-development like the Nirlon Knowledge Park. Building on that flagship foundation we have already identified an ongoing pipeline in India of 12 potential projects with a combined sales value, for the FilterClear component, of approximately £6 million.”
