Jaipur start-up bridges the class divide, drop by drop

Sonali Chowdhury

An astute observation about what separates the haves and the have-nots in India made Himanshu Sharma decide to rid villagers of their dependence on ancient wells, unhygienic ponds and seasonal rainfall for drinking water.

Sharma, an IIT graduate from Kharagpur, had done several stints with social workers in villages near Jaipur in Rajasthan. He noticed that while they sat with the villagers, ate with them and even slept in their homes to get a first-hand feel of their problems, they never once drank their water they were offered.

Based on these experiences, Himanshu Sharma along with a friend Gautam Sharma launched Amrit Tulya ('blessed water'), a venture that aims to bring drinking water to rural India at a fraction of the current cost.

Set up with seed capital of Rs 2.5 lakh from his personal savings and prize money from various business plan competitions, Sharma floated his company in 2012. He developed and field-tested a solar-powered water purification system that works on reverse osmosis, to ensure clean drinking water with low resource requirements. 

"There are players with deep pockets that have set up bigger plants in rural areas. But we have an advantage because our water-purification plants are small, and this makes it easier to get local partners or contractors to tie up with us. Moreover, our low costs make ours an attractive proposition to consumers."

How The Technology Works

Amrit Tulya's water purification plant comprises two parts. The first is the solar power or Photo Voltaic (PV) module, while the second is the Reverse Osmosis (RO) unit. "The uniqueness of our technology lies in its efficiency, which in turn makes it economically viable for a mass consumer base."

Just how much more economical is his technology? Sharma says, on average, consumers in rural areas pay 30-50 paise per litre of potable water from electricity-driven plants. "In contrast, Amrit Tulya's consumers pay only 20 paise per litre," he explains.

The plant is also auto-operated, which means it starts treating water whenever there is sufficient sunlight and stops when adequate sunlight is not present. This extends the life of both membrane and machine. It is designed to reduce the requirement of intense sunlight, thus increasing its lifespan, Sharma points out. "The plant is a stand-alone unit; it has very low maintenance costs; and can be installed just about anywhere."

Amrit Tulya currently runs two plants, both in Rajasthan – one in Baran and the other in the Jhotwara industrial area in Jaipur.

Revenue Model

Revenue is generated solely on the sale of plants to service providers or contractors, who in turn sell potable water to consumers. Sharma says the smallest unit he has – 50 litres per hour or LPH – costs Rs 30,000, including the cost of installation.

When Sharma sells a plant to a service provider, the latter makes an upfront payment and pays the rest in instalments till Sharma breaks even. The service provider, in turn, earns revenue from the sale of potable water to consumers. While each litre of purified water costs 20 paise, the contractor keeps a margin of 15 paise, Sharma explains.

As far as profits go, Sharma explains that as Amrit Tulya's sales volume increases, production costs will fall and the company will retain a 20-30 per cent profit on each water purification plant sold. "Eventually, of course, we will launch our technological innovation in the consumer market and sell it to, say, charitable institutions, religious places, municipalities etc. To make our business scalable, we will use advanced technology and vary the size of the plant and price our plants accordingly."

Slippery Slope

Being a social entrepreneur is especially tough and Amrit Tulya has had its share of problems. Initially, the company found it very difficult to motivate its partners because people were sceptical about the success of the business plan. "It has been difficult to develop and create awareness about clean water among our target customers. On the operations side, we had to change our design several times to make it modular. The aim was to modify the plant for different environments and conditions," says Sharma.

Nanchu Ram Chaudhary, the company's contractor in the Jhotwara industrial region, says, "Earlier, the labourers' children used to fall sick very often because of poor drinking water, which was contaminated by industrial waste generated in the neighbourhood. Since this plant has been installed, the labourers have begun to experience its benefits."

Amrit Tulya's gift of 'blessed water' has begun to trickle down to its grateful beneficiaries.

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