China: Flygt China will supply 153 SR4430 compact slow speed 4.3 kW mixers along with control panels with a total value of US$ 1.25 million for a new wastewater treatment plant that is being built in the city of Shaoxing in the Zhejiang Province, located 200 km southwest of Shanghai. The US$ 24-million Shaoxing plant, due for completion at the end of 2003, will have a capacity of 350 m3/day.
India: David Brown Engineering (UK) created a test rig at its Huddersfield (UK) works to simulate operational loading from the world's largest pumping system as part of a US$ 3.8-million project to supply gearboxes to the Narmada dam project in India. Representatives from the major Indian pump manufacturer Kirloskar Brothers Ltd visited the works to see the rig in operation.
David Brown is supplying 26 single-stage vertical planetary gear units that transmit approximately 4,500 kW at 200 rpm and are nominally capable of handling a thrust load of over 90 tonnes. The company will deliver the first gear units by the end of 2004, and supply the remainder during the four-year project.
The Narmada Project canal system in the state of Gujarat will eventually irrigate 1.8-million ha of land, and meet the drinking water requirements of millions of people. Kirloskar Brothers is building five huge new pumping stations equipped with mammoth concrete volute pumps, which will eventually be capable of lifting some 410,000 litres of water per second to provide irrigation and drinking water to 132 towns and many villages in the drought-affected areas of the Saurashtra region.
Malaysia: Water concessionaire Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd was awarded a contract valued at US$ 132 million to replace old asbestos water pipes in the Federal Territory, Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said. He reported that the Federal Territory had been chosen first among other areas in the country for such replacement work because of its high incidence of water leakage, which had led to many supply problems. Work is expected to start soon.
Analysts said the price movement was expected as investors had anticipated the award of the contract since the government made the announcement a year ago to replace old pipes throughout the country.
"We believe the latest contract will be the beginning of the total privatisation of the entire water supply system in the Federal Territory and Selangor," said an industry analyst with a local brokerage firm.
Philippines: The Asian Development Bank approved a technical assistance grant of US$ 4.3 million to continue its regional and country initiatives to promote effective water management policies and practices. The program includes follow-up initiatives to the 3rd World Water Forum, held in Kyoto, Japan, in March 2003, and will help the ADB and its developing member countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals related to water and poverty reduction.
The program will support pilot and demonstration activities and help initiate or strengthen water partnerships, such as the Southeast Asia Water Utilities Network and the flood management initiative of the Mekong countries.
