Sustainability & CSR By Mr. Arun Lakhani

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. (VIL) specializes in three Infrastructure sectors – Water, Waste Water and Transportation. VIL has been ground-breaking innovative PPP models in water infrastructure sector. VIL philosophy of creating value by removal of inefficiencies and ensuring win-win for all the stakeholders is in tune with the social nature of water projects. Understanding and focus on implementation details and awareness of last mile problems and their mitigation is strength of VIL to create value by removing inefficiencies from the system.

Arun Lakhani says it’s ‘People’- the fourth P that makes the critical difference to PPP (Public –Private Partnership).It’s the 4th P that powers PPP – PPP to 4P Model. Ever since the Indian economy was opened and the process of liberalization was set in, various private players added their might partnering with public enterprises in various sectors. PPP as a concept on paper brings in very good synergy of Private enterprise efficiency with Public ownership of assets. But in reality we see a trust deficit between the ultimate stakeholders, People on one hand and Government & Private 30 years can be a risk unless people are on boarded. Our answer to this situation is Involve / Integrate the Fourth P – People – citizens in the PPP Model enhancing its credibility. PPP can be very successful if the fourth P- People are integrated in the structure with openness and responsibility of communicating with larger masses. People as largest stakeholders in any PPP must participate to monitor the contracts done between the two Ps.

With the fourth P of People, PPP is enriched with a completely new dimension of a more humane face & greater sensitivity towards its largest stakeholder- the people. Every PPP project is conceived to benefit the People, but often in the dry domain of numbers this fact is lost sight of. The factoring in of this fourth P as a central focus has a completely transformative impact on the long-term success of the project. An analysis of failed PPP projects will bear out that the major cause of failure was the ‘People’ dimension being ignored. Without the active involvement of ‘People’ from conceptualization to the final execution no PPP project can hope for long-term success. In the current context taking ‘People’ on-board with open communication & transparency is a business imperative for the Private Partner rather than a CSR initiative. Water PPPs are Social Projects and for them to succeed, the roles of the stakeholders with People as integral part of the project shall be: P – Public – Policy Maker, P – Private – Efficiency improvement with investment, P – People – Communication & Monitoring. Communication, Transparency and On-boarding of the largest stakeholders “People” are more of a business need and mitigates many risks. Arun Lakhani goes on to say that in any project people’s voices matter and that’s a major reason as to why we need to filter in their take on any projects. We understand the problem through first hand source its better and gives authentic insight.

 

 

 

 

Arun Lakhani and Corporate Social Responsibility

It’s ‘People’- the fourth P that makes the significant difference to PPP (Public –Private Partnership). Ever since the Indian market was opened and the process of liberlisation was set in, various private players added their might partnering with public enterprises in various sectors. PPP as a concept on paper brings in very good synergy of Private enterprise efficiency with Public ownership of assets. But in reality we see a trust deficit between the ultimate stakeholders, People on one hand and Government & Private 30 years can be a risk unless people are on boarded. Our answer to this situation is Involve / Integrate the Fourth P – People – citizens in the PPP Model enhancing its credibility. PPP can be very successful if the fourth P- People are integrated in the structure with openness and responsibility of communicating with larger masses. People as largest stakeholders in any PPP must participate to monitor the contracts done between the two Ps. In the current context taking ‘People’ on-board with open communication & transparency is a business imperative for the Private Partner rather than a CSR initiative. Nagpur 24×7 and Nagpur 200 MLD STP Treatment and Reuse started out as business models but they have the essence of CSR as people were involved in the projects and their opinions were taken into consideration for the growth and development for the Water and Waste water projects.

 

Corporate social responsibility (CSR, also called corporate conscience, corporate citizenship or responsible business) is an outline of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a self-regulatory mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active conformity with the spirit of the law, ethical standards and national or international norms. With some models, a firm’s implementation of CSR goes beyond compliance and engages in “actions that appear to further some social good, beyond the interests of the firm and that which is necessary by law.” The aim is to increase long-term profits and shareholder trust through positive public relations and high ethical standards to reduce business and legal risk by taking responsibility for corporate actions. CSR strategies encourage the company to make a positive impact on the environment and stakeholders including consumers, employees, investors, communities, and others. CSR is titled to aid an organization’s mission as well as serve as a guide to what the company represents for its consumers. Business ethics is the part of applied ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. ISO 26000 is the recognized international standard for CSR. Public sector organizations (the United Nations for example) adhere to the triple bottom line (TBL). It is widely accepted that CSR adheres to similar principles, but with no formal act of legislation. Chairman and Managing Director of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL India) Mr. Arun Lakhani says as a social entrepreneur I always believed being socially responsible and having a business that not only improves India’s development but also benefits the citizens of the nation is extremely important.

 

Veolia France & Arun Lakhani -Orange City Water

Orange City Water (OCW) will invest 18 million euros in the project to renovate the city’s six water production plants and repair the 2,500 km of network. The production capacity of the system managed by OCW will eventually be close to 750 million liters a day and leakage from the network, which is currently 60%, will gradually be lowered to international standards. This will be a first in India.

Arun Lakhani says India has vast prerequisite of Infrastructure building and development. The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing medium between private and public. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited saw this opportunity and decided to have a model for 24×7 water supply. Orange City Water also popularly known as the Nagpur 24×7 Water supply along with Veoila France made this happen.

Vishvaraj Environment Pvt. Ltd. (VEL) is a subsidiary of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. (VIL), a transportation infrastructure development company from India. With a humble start over a decade ago with development of road project on BOT model, today VIL is successfully managing four concession contracts in transportation (road) sector and the fifth contract is under execution. Over this decade long journey, VIL has acquired knowledge to evolve systems in sectors where society at large is involved and all stakeholder’s interests need to be understood and addressed, ensuring a win-win situation for all, more so in a developing and culturally diverse country like India. VIL proposes to put to use this knowledge in few more sectors, water being a major focus area through its subsidiary Vishvaraj Environment. Vishvaraj Environment foresees a great opportunity for the private sector to participate in financing, building and maintaining urban water supply infrastructure projects and has geared itself to build the capacities for the future.

Veolia Water India is a wholly owned subsidiary of Veolia Water India Africa, which covers Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent. Veolia Water India Africa is 80.55% held by Veolia Water, with the remainder being held by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank Group institution in charge of operations with the private sector, and by PROPARCO, a subsidiary of the French development aid agency with a similar role. Veolia Water India Africa provides 3.16 million people with water and 1.42 million with electricity. It employs 2,191 people and offers partners its technical and managerial expertise to supply specific solutions in regions affected by water stress. Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and wastewater services. Specialized in outsourcing services for municipal authorities, as well as industrial and service companies, it is also one of the world’s major designers of technological solutions and constructor of facilities needed in water and wastewater services. With 96,651 employees in 69 countries, Veolia Water provides water service to 103 million people and wastewater service to 73 million. Its 2011 revenue amounted to € 12.617 billion.

 

Nagpur 24×7 a success story by Arun Lakhani

Mr. Arun Lakhani had a vision for Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) as he considered Water Supply is a project that needs to be worked on and developed for a billion+ people in India. Water supply to be explained in simplified terms is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organizations, community activities or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered separately.

At Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited we see ourselves as social entrepreneurs since Water, Waste Water and Transport; the sectors in which we have built our reputation are closely interwoven with the lives of people. As business, apart from value creation for share holders they also impact happiness quotient of the people, thus offering enormous satisfaction to us for our life transforming work. The rapidly urbanizing Indian population is expected to reach a figure close to 600 million urban people by 2031. This massive transition is creating serious challenges for urban planners and ULBs especially that of ensuring quality water supply to these citizens. Indian cities have for long lived with intermittent water supply systems riddled with a variety of problems ranging from high levels of NRW to contamination issues.

The areas to be in focus in 24×7 water supply are as follows: Non-Revenue Water ranging from 50 to 75%, Water supply coverage Only about 64%, Intermittent Supply & Poor billing mechanism. As a solution to this situation several reforms have been initiated by the government which include introduction of performance linked PPP contracts, up gradation of existing ageing assets, 100% metering and efficient operation and maintenance of the supply system. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. provides global solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the water sector through innovation in the design, construction and operation of drinking water treatment plants, distribution system reforms, etc.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited Water supply success stories: Nagpur 24 X 7 – Nagpur is the 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. Nagpur 24 x 7 Water Supply

First Full City Continuous water supply Project in India

The Project gives emphasis on Operator’s Performance; the Operator remuneration is linked with the technical and commercial efficiency of his services.

• Delinking of consumer tariff and Operator’s fees
• Employees and Unions – Job security of government employees maintained
• Included ‘economically challenged segment of society’ in Service Level Agreement (SLA) for connecting households
• Sovereign rights with N MC —Tariff, sole rights for new house service connection & disconnection and ownership of assets

Other projects in the pipeline for Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited are Magadi 24×7 in Ramanagara district in the state of Karnataka. Bidar & Basavakalyan 24×7. The two towns of Bidar and Basavakalyan are located in the Bidar district of Karnataka.

Pressurized water supply throughout India is essential for daily survival. It’s a basic necessity for every living being. VIL aims to overcome this problem and make India a country with 24×7 Water Supply.

 

Arun Lakhani and the VIL Team

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. (VIL) specializes in three Infrastructure sectors – Water, Waste Water and Transportation. VIL has been pioneering innovative PPP models in water infrastructure sector. VIL philosophy of creating value by removal of inefficiencies and ensuring win-win for all the stakeholders is in tune with the social nature of water projects. Understanding and focus on implementation details and awareness of last mile problems and their mitigation is strength of VIL to create value by removing inefficiencies from the system.

At VIL we have a very diverse culture and that is seen in the people on the VIL team. The advisory team has:

Nitin Raichura. Executive Director, BE (Mech.) Nitin brings more than 30 years of rich experience in the fields of operations management and strategy. Prior to VIL he has worked for well known Corporations like Gammon Tunkeys Limited, Jyoti Ltd, Kidde India Ltd. and Gunnebo India Ltd.

Dr. Olivia Jensen. Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Water Policy at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Olivia Jensen, an economist specializing in the water sector with seventeen years professional experience as a consultant and academic. Dr. Jensen holds a PhD and MSc in Development from the London School of Economics, MA in International Relations and BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University (Magdalen College). She is currently working as senior research fellow at the Institute of Water Policy at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. Dr. Jensen was the Asia Editor of Global Water Intelligence before joining LKY. She has worked as a consultant for both public and private clients including the World Bank, OECD and UNEP. She is also the author of numerous authoritative reports, academic papers and articles on the Asian water sector, Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracts, and economic and environmental regulation.

Prof V. Srinivas Chary. Dean of Research and Management Studies, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad. Prof V. Srinivas Chary is the Dean of Research and Management Studies at Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Hyderabad, India, specialises in governance, institutional reforms and capacity building for improvement in urban service delivery. He has over 23 years of professional experience in the areas of urban infrastructure and has extensively worked on water and sanitation sectors, urban environmental management, PPP etc. An engineer, urban planner and management professional by training, Prof Chary has led over 150 advisory, consulting and research assignments in the areas of policy development, municipal reforms, city development planning, 24-7 Water Supply, Universal Sanitation, PPP, Urban Poverty Reduction, Tariffs And Cost Recovery Strategies, Benchmarking, Capacity Enhancement Strategies, Change Management and Urban Environmental Management – both in India and South Asia. Prof Chary led urban service level benchmarking programme of the Government of India involving over 1500 municipalities. As a member of the urban sanitation taskforce of the MoUD, he played a catalytic role in the formulation of the National Urban Sanitation Policy of the Government of India.

Arun Lakhani And Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd Leading Company In Water Industry

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd (VIL) is one of the leading companies in the water industry. VIL is focused on providing 24×7 Water Supply to every household in India. They started out with the Orange City water project in Nagpur popularly known as Nagpur 24×7 water supply. To create Sustainable, efficient & Accountable – environmental services and infrastructure, with People Participation

India has vast requirement of Infrastructure building and improvement. The PPP route was established in last decade also saw some lean time. With New government initiative the PPP has again come with better risk sharing matrix between private and public. VIL India has been a proponent of PPP model, and has established track record in Road and highways sector. With Urban Infrastructure foray in Water, it is today the only Indian Utility with ongoing projects in Water distribution as well as Waste water treatment and Reuse.

Mr. Arun Lakhani the Chairman & Managing Director of Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) says one of our biggest challenges of high – density urbanization is the generation of huge of waste water. According to the estimates of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) about 80% of water supplied for domestic use is discharged as waste water which enters untreated into the downstream water bodies polluting them. A mammoth 38,000 MLD of wastewater is generated by Class I & Class II towns and this is expected to grow 3 – 5 times to 133,000 MLD by 2050.

Vishvaraj Infra has an amazing success story to showcase. The Orange City Water or the Nagpur 24×7 Water Supply Project. Nagpur the 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. The Private entity to bring in 3o% of the investment of the estimated project cost, 70% to be the Public entity’s contribution under MN URM + l00% escalation. The project to be operative for 25 years of O&M inclusive of 5 years of capital rehabilitation. The project covers management of the entire water cycle from production, treatment (657 MLD), transport (2100 Kms of network), storage and delivery to the last point of usage i.e. the customers tap. This involves replacement of more than 3,00,00 house service connections, rehabilitation of treatment facilities, service reservoirs and pipeline.

VIL’s key competitive advantage springs from the consistent innovations, which question the status quo. In addition to harnessing innovative technologies accessed globally VIL’s core strength is its unique ability to design innovative structuring of Public Private Partnership projects themselves.

Water, Waste Water Treatment & Sewage Treatment is just one are VIL India is involved with.  Vishvaraj Infrastructure  has also set their foot in the Transport sector. The projects undertaken by VIL are as follows: Warora – chandrapur – Ballarpur Project, Chandwad – Manmad – Nandgaon Project, Malegaon – Manmad – Kopergaon Project & Fekri and VAPI over bridge Projects.

Nagpur 24×7 Water Supply – Vishvaraj Infrastructure (VIL)

Water supply to be explained in simplified terms is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organizations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered separately. Mr. Arun Lakhani had a vision for Vishvaraj Infrastructure (VIL) as he considered Water Supply is a project that needs to be worked on and developed for a billion+ people in India.

At Vishvaraj Infra we see ourselves as social entrepreneurs since Water, Waste Water and Transport; the sectors in which we have built our reputation are closely interwoven with the lives of people. As business, apart from value creation for share holders they also impact happiness quotient of the people, thus offering enormous satisfaction to us for our life transforming work. The rapidly urbanizing Indian population is expected to reach a figure close to 600 million urban people by 2031. This massive transition is creating serious challenges for urban planners and ULBs especially that of ensuring quality water supply to these citizens. Indian cities have for long lived with intermittent water supply systems riddled with a variety of problems ranging from high levels of NRW to contamination issues.

The areas to be in focus in 24×7 water supply are as follows: Non-Revenue Water ranging from 50 to 75%, Water supply coverage Only about 64%, Intermittent Supply & Poor billing mechanism. As a solution to this situation several reforms have been initiated by the government which include introduction of performance linked PPP contracts, up gradation of existing ageing assets, 100% metering and efficient operation and maintenance of the supply system. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd. provides global solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the water sector through innovation in the design, construction and operation of drinking water treatment plants, distribution system reforms, etc.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited Water supply success stories: Nagpur 24 X 7 – Nagpur is the 3rd largest city & winter capital of Maharashtra state, Nagpur is India’s loath largest city with a population of over 2.5 million people. It became the first city of its size in the country to outsource its water supply to a private operator under the PPP model for 25 years. Nagpur 24 x 7 Water Supply

First Full City Continuous water supply Project in India

The Project gives emphasis on Operator’s Performance; the Operator remuneration is linked with the technical and commercial efficiency of his services.

• Delinking of consumer tariff and Operator’s fees
• Employees and Unions – Job security of government employees maintained
• Included ‘economically challenged segment of society’ in Service Level Agreement (SLA) for connecting households
• Sovereign rights with N MC —Tariff, sole rights for new house service connection & disconnection and ownership of assets

Other projects in the pipeline for Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd are Magadi 24×7 in Ramanagara district in the state of Karnataka. Bidar & Basavakalyan 24×7. The two towns of Bidar and Basavakalyan are located in the Bidar district of Karnataka.

Pressurized water supply throughout India is essential for daily survival. It’s a basic necessity for every living being. VIL aims to overcome this problem and make India a country with 24×7 Water Supply.

VIL Arun Lakhani Wins Big At World Water Leadership Congress & Awards

At the recent World Water Leadership Congress & Awards, Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL), won two major awards in the sector. The company won the presitigious Water Reuse Project of the Year and Mr Arun Lakhani, VIL’s chairman and managing director won the award for Outstanding Contribution to Water.

For a man like Mr Arun Lakhani this means a lot. Especially, one who has over the years kept a low profile, in order to concentrate make a huge impact to society at large.

Hailing from the small village of Malkapur from Buldhana district, he did his schooling from a Marathi medium school. In the years to come he would complete a degree in B.Sc from Amravati and an M.Tech in petrochemicals. In a career, that spans four decades, Mr Arun Lakhani, while working at various institutions has always sought for positive social change.

Realising India’s finite water resources are depleting while the multi-sectoral demands is driving the increased demand for water, VIL has been making inroads to make 24×7 water a reality. As the per capita consumption of water rapidly increases, sewage leaves companies with a possible cost and an opportunity.

VIL provides global solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the water sector through innovation in the design, construction and operation of drinking water treatment plants, distribution system reforms, etc. The Company has executed or in execution projects worth approximately Rs 27,500 million across the three sectors primarily through PPP contracting and few through EPC route.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure (VIL India) Wins Best PPP Operator

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Limited (VIL) won Best PPP Operator in Water and Wastewater Sector at the Water Awards 2015-2016, by Water Digest. This clearly highlights the company’s contribution to water and waste water management.

In most parts of the world, water privatisation has become a very political issue. A topic few would like to talk about. Yet, VIL has not been deterred. The arguments against the idea of continuous 24×7 water with the help of the private sector have been growing strong, based on an already scarce water supply costing, tariffs and intermittent power supply affecting water supply.

Cities are in dire need for transformation in the sector.  And maybe instead of fearing change, it is time to embrace it. VIL supports PPP, an excellent model to synergise private efficiency and public oversight. Further, it helps removing inefficiencies through private intervention and investments are better sourced.

VIL India success in continuous water supply is being seen in Nagpur and other projects which followed have broken the myth of infeasibility of 24×7 water supply projects in India.

VIL provides global solutions that contribute to sustainable development in the water sector through innovation in the design, construction and operation of drinking water treatment plants, distribution system reforms, etc.

Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd Supports Badminton Players

We are a nation of over a billion people. Yet, when it comes to sports, the most we can talk about is cricket. It is pertinent there is a private player hand to promote various sports, like the Indian Football League. Vishvaraj Infrastructure Ltd (VIL) has understood the importance of having a strong contingent of sportsmen in this country and diversity of having various sportsman playing different sports.

In a move to create more avenues for sportsman to grow and make their life a tad bit easier, VIL has decided to sponsor the talented city duo of Arundhati Pantawane and Rasika Raje, badminton players, on a long-term basis. The company is committed to bear the expenses of travelling, lodging and boarding arrangements of both Arundhati and Rasika whenever they play national and international tournaments.