Paques Holding BV of the Netherlands, a well-known global name in the field of green energy, specialising in harnessing industrial waste water through treating biological waste, has signalled its foray into India by setting up a wholly-owned subsidiary.
The subsidiary, Paques Environmental Technology India Pvt. Ltd., is based in Chennai.
The company is now looking to establish a manufacturing base, and is already scouting for an ideal site to locate its proposed production unit.
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Sudeep Sangameswaran, Managing Director, (India Operation), said Paques would zero in on the site soon. The Greenfield project, he said, could involve an investment outlay of around euro 2 million.
Paques would design biotechnological processes to purify water and gas streams to improve the sustainability of companies and contribute to “the balanced improvement of people, profit and planet through revitalisation of resources,’’ he said.
Mr. Sangameswaran said Paques was already in engagement with a couple of large petrochemical projects for industrial waste water treatment.
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Fielding a range of questions, he said the technology developed by the Dutch company would ideally fit into a country such as India, which had a large agro-based industrial activity. “India is a critical market to be in,’’ he said. He pointed out that Paques was already operating in countries such as Brazil and China.
Paques, according to Marie-Jose Roks, Chief Financial Officer, is a family-owned company with a ‘significant minority holding’ by a private equity.
Mr. Sangamewsaran said Paques played the tech supplier role in industrial waste water treatment projects. The typical size of such projects was in the vicinity of $25 million, and the exposure of Paques could be to around of 5-7 per cent of it. “Our involvement is in the heart of the process, though our share is in that small range,’’ he said.
The Managing Director indicated that the factory could be up and running inside one year once the company zeroed in on the location.
To a query, he said the factory could be employing around 40-50 skilled workmen, and make ‘core components’, which essentially involved high-end engineering plastics.
Stressing on the importance of localisation, he said Paques would also undertake research and development initiatives to “meet the specific local needs.’’
To a question, he said Paques would look at Brownfield projects, where it could deploy its technology upstream to bring more efficiency in terms of energy consumption and scalability of waste treatment.
Paques, he said, helped companies across the globe reduce fresh water intake, decrease their carbon footprints and reclaim valuable resources from waste.
“We do these by developing ingenious anaerobic water purification systems that produce energy from wastewater, whilst purifying the water and facilitating water reuse. The biogas produced in the purifying process is a source of green energy,’’ he said.