The government of Odisha (India), through the Public Health Engineering Organisation (Urban), has signed the concession agreement for the Bulk Water Supply PPP project in Bhubaneswar.

The project will be developed by a consortium composed by Megha Engineering & Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) and Koya & Company Construction Limited.

The project will supply water to: the towns of Khurda and Jatni, industrial establishments like INFOCITY- II, Sea Food Park at Deras, and institutions such as IIT Bhubaneswar and National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER). The new facilities will be integrated with the existing water supply system of Khurda and Jatni. The project is expected to benefit more than two hundred thousand population.

The project will be developed on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (DBFOT) basis. The concession period is 25 years.

The total project investment is estimated at Rs1.88 billion (US$30.67 million), with a maximum VGF (viability gap funding) of Rs500 million to be funded jointly by the Government of Odisha and the Government of India.

Odisha Chief Minister, Mr. Naveen Patnaik, stated:

The State has a strong institutional and policy frame work for undertaking innovative PPP projects for urban infrastructure.

According to Mr. Naveen Patnaik, the new State Urban Water Policy-2013 has a committed investment of Rs4,3.8 billion for providing universal access to potable pipe water at affordable, equitable and sustainable manner.

Odisha is the first state to develop a water sector public - private partnership (PPP) project availing VGF scheme of Government of India.