The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board in India issued two tenders on 2 May 2003 for projects that will help solve its water supply problem.
First, the government issued a tender for a seawater desalination plant at Minjur in North Chennai on a design, build, own, operate and transfer basis. Second, the government is also contemplating a move to transport water from Chingleput (Mamandur and Palur) to Chennai, for which it issued a separate tender. The government plans to hire a water tanker of 10,000-litres capacity for five months, between June and October 2003.
For the desalination project, bidders would have three options, including setting up a 100-million litres a day (mld), 200-mld or 300-mld plant at Minjur, located about 25 km north of Chennai. As per the plan, the government would purchase a minimum of 80% of the installed capacity on a "take or pay'' basis, with the minimum term of the Water Purchase Agreement being 25 years. The government would provide operational power on payment of relevant charges, and also make available the required land at Minjur, says the tender.
The decision on the capacity of the plant to be set up would be made after analysis of the bids received from interested developers and analysis by the Chennai government.
