Chennai: According to the Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) report released by the Niti Aayog in 2018, 21 major cities (Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi and others) are racing to reach zero groundwater levels by 2020, affecting access for 100 million people. 12% of India’s population is already living the ‘Day Zero’ scenario, thanks to excessive groundwater pumping, an inefficient and wasteful water management system and years of deficient rains. As alarming as these numbers sound, there cannot be an immediate solution to a manmade disaster developed over centuries. It will require drastic measures that must be monitored and audited to find any long-term solution. Government cannot alone mitigate this catastrophe; it has to be a collaborative effort with private entities or an innovation like Atmospheric Water Generators which makes people self-reliant and future ready. AKVO Atmospheric Water Systems Pvt Ltd, the largest AWG manufacturers of the country, has launched their first-of-its-kind experiential stores of the country in Chennai. Named Akvosphere, these stores will offer consumers a unique experience of AKVO AWG machines.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Navkaran Singh Bagga, Founder and CEO AKVO Atmospheric Water Systems Pvt Ltd stated, “Chennai has been our biggest market, contributing 80% to our annual turnover which is attuned to INR 100 crores in FY 21-22. AKVO played an instrumental role in providing an alternative solution in water scarcity hit Chennai during the summer months of 2019 which drew global attention. Currently, we have over 50 machines installed in Chennai across schools, residential complexes, private institutions and we have been getting high demand and queries from our patrons. Till now, we have operated strictly through our e-commerce platform, post launching our home and small office model AKVO POD, we wanted to offer our prospective customers an experience of our machines through Akvospheres. Consumers can visit the stores and have a first-hand experience of the machines and also make bookings at the stores itself. Alternatively, they can also make the purchase from our website after experiencing at the stores. The machines will then be installed within 7 days. This is another step in our ambition of making India water independent. We plan on investing around INR 3 crores in setting up Akvosphere in Chennai and eventually we want to set up a manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu for the production of our domestic machines. We aim to launch more Akvospheres experiential centers in Southern India, in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and 30 stores across in the country by 2021.”
AKVO works on a simple plug and play method and consumes one unit of electricity to run for an hour. AKVO uses a powerful proprietary organic filtration process that outputs pure drinking water that contains no harmful chemicals, bacteria, viruses or pesticides. The water collected from the AWG is almost distilled in its collection stage and then minerals are added to the water in the machine itself to make it reach recommended drinking standards. After extensive testing, the water produced from these generators agree very well with the standards set by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The tests were also agreeable with the standards set by ISO 10500, 2012 (2nd revision) and has been marked safe for drinking. The bottled cans used at homes and offices which calls itself mineral water and is marketed anywhere between Rs 4.50 to Rs 5.00 per litre, always has the cleanliness suspicion tag attached with it, while the water that you consume from AKVO machines will cost only Rs 1.75 to Rs 2.00 per litre, it is just the cost of electricity.
The Greater Chennai Corporation had installed AKVO atmospheric water generator in its premises on a trial basis. The company is in talks with other big MNCs in Chennai to install the machine at its offices. NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Haldia (6 machines running and providing water to 900 factory workers), Hero Moto Corp has installed one machine in its plant in Haryana, and other government bodies are also trusting AKVO machines in providing clean drinking water. Six machines have been installed in Lakshadweep Island as well in association with the local government. AKVO is India’s largest AWG manufacturer with over 350 machines sold in India and worldwide. AKVO has a strong presence in several international markets. The Gulf countries have been one of the biggest clients owing to the climatic conditions there. AKVO is also present in South Asian countries, South Africa, South America. Over 44 AKVO machines have been installed at the Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 stadium, with an order for over 350 more. The company has worked with the Supreme Committee of Design and Legacy, Qatar for making this possible. AKVO is also currently working with the Govt. of Phillipines. Sharjah Electricity & Water Authority (SEVA), DP World in Dubai have been some of their clients. AKVO machines are running in Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Cape Town, Santiago and Chile.
AKVO has an annual turnover of INR 100 crore which makes them the leaders in the segment in India and AKVO’s annual fiscal market is INR 300 crores in the long term. Following demand from their consumers, AKVO had launched the first home versions of AWG machines in the country, AKVOPOD, last year. AKVO is 100 percent bootstrapped. This route was adopted as it allowed the company to build a solid bottom-line focused business approach first. AKVO has made an investment of upward of 1.5 million dollars and plans to invest a further of 10 million dollars in the next two years towards research and development, marketing, expansion of our product line.
