By Ruma Dubey

Rajesh was getting ready for his summer holidays and was travelling to India from USA. He lived in a small village in Maharashtra and when he called up his father, asking what he should for everyone back home, pat comes the answer, “ Get some water if you can.”

No exaggeration, this is how the situation in some parts of India is. We might have made major technological advances, have the world at the tip of our fingers yet can anyone yet claim to have the technology to make water. There is also a simple chemical formula to it – two parts of hydrogen and one part of oxygen. Yet can anyone play God and create water? We continue to remain at the mercy of the rain gods. And this time around, Maharashtra is already reeling under a major drought crisis and the entire summer is yet to pass. The current drought in the state is worse than the one faced in 1972 with 11,801 villages affected. Crops are effected, cattle do not have fodder and there are reports of major migration to the cities. There is a water scarcity in Gujarat also, with over 100 villages affected. Reports state that out of 202 water reservoirs in Saurashtra region, 72 are totally dried up, 89 are almost empty and water level in another 41 has fallen to 25% of its capacity. Tamil Nadu is also on the precipice of a huge water shortage, with the state already facing a 11% deficit in water supply.

Water and power are two necessities of life and there is a deficit of both. As the years roll, water will become as precious as oil, if not more. It would be no exaggeration to say that water will get transported through pipelines, not just in India as it is already being done but like oil, get imported.  Tnakers will travel more to transport water and maybe across the seas too, like oil. Shortage of water is not just endemic to India but all over the world. There are very few countries which can all themselves “water abundant” and Canada ranks on the top. It has the same amount of water as China and just 2.3% of its population. Turkey exports water to Israel and Cyprus in large balloons that can hold up to five million gallons of water. Singapore buys 10% of its water from private-sector suppliers who have built desalinisation plants in order to reduce its reliance on Malaysia.

Where there is a scarcity therein lies the opportunity. There is a shortage of supply and demand is only expected to grow and that in simple economic sense makes great investment sense. And looking at a horizon of 7-10 years down the line, investing in “water stocks” makes perfect sense. There are only a few listed on the Indian stock exchanges. A quick look at some of them:

Thermax : The best and well known water management company. It might be low on orders right now but future for the sector thus for the company, given its expertise is extremely bright.

Jain Irrigation: The stars might be frowning down upon the company currently, submerged under the deluge of its debt but drip irrigation is the way ahead and given its dominance in this field, it’s the company to watch out for in this sector.

ION Exchange: This company has been around for years and pioneered water treatment when no one was even thiking about it. It is one of the bets when it comes to water treatment, supplying not just to the companies but to homes also. Indian Railways water, Railneer, which is pure and safe drinking water is supplied by this company.

Finolex Industries: It makes PVC pipes and as stated earlier, with water in the future expected to get transported by pipelines, this company could become a preferred choice.

VA Tech Wabag: Deslination is going to be the way ahead and this company has got the expertise and the experience. Chennai’s second desalination plant was recently started and it was set up by VA Tech.

The listed “bottled” water company is Mount Everest Mineral water which sells water under the brand name of “Himalaya”. This is now a part of Tata Global Beverages and thus has got an assured market through its Starbucks outlet for now.

Tata Chemicals: This Tata company has done a “Nano” in the water purifying sector with its Tata Swach water purifiers. With the starting price at Rs.899, going up to Rs.2000, the product is distributed all across Tata networks.

There are quite a few unlisted companies which are making headway into water management. For eg: Hydroair Tectonics has set up 340 waste management plants and is expecting a turnover of Rs.1000 crore this year. It buys sewage from BMC in Mumbai and converts it into potable water plants used to water golf courses. Jindal too has big stake in water management through Jindal Aqua Source and Piramals sell water under the brand name of Sarvajal through their privately held company, Piramal Water Management. It supplies drinking water in 154 cities, towns and villages across Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Maharashtra. Another immensely successful water company is Waterlife which manages water purification plants for state Governments.

Yes, in the future logistics companies will get into water transportation. Already in Scandinavian countries, where there is plenty of water, one company intends to ship the equivalent of 1,000 Olympic swimming pools of water to Iran every day. That day is not too far away for us too – to get imported water.