India to develop a national desal mission, as Tamil Nadu dives in

India’s minister of earth sciences Harsh Vardhan is to develop a desalination mission for the country, reports Hindustan Times.

The minister has met with scientists at the National Institute for Transforming India (Niti Aayog), to discuss how to progress the idea.

The availability of clean water for each person in India is expected to have fallen from 1,860 m3/d in 2001 to 1,140 m3/d by 2050.

Southern state Tamil Nadu is in the grip of its worst drought for 140 years, with four reservoirs near the capital city of Chennai having run dry.

On Friday 23 June 2017, the Tamil Nadu government unveiled a proposal for an integrated textiles industrial park in the state, to include a desalination plant. The project is currently awaiting approval from central government.