A co-developer agreement for a seawater desalination project in Gujarat state, India, was announced on 22 March 2012 by a consortium of Hitachi Ltd and Itochu Corporation of Japan with Hyflux Ltd of Singapore.
The agreement was signed with Dahej SEZ Ltd (DSL), the management company of Dahej Special Economic Zone (Dahej SEZ).
The goal of this project is to resolve shortages of industrial water to be supplied to companies setting up operations in the coastal industrial region of Dahej through seawater desalination. It is part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project being promoted jointly by the Japanese and Indian governments, involving the construction of industrial parks between Delhi and Mumbai (approximately 1,500 km) utilizing private sector capital.
The main element of the agreement is to secure the rights to supply industrial water to industrial parks in the Dahej SEZ. The consortium will actively continue the discussions regarding the water purchase agreement between DSL and the consortium, and towards the financial close.
Upon completion, the project will be the largest seawater desalination project in Asia, says the consortium.