Additional revenue from the recent water charge hike aside, the cash-strapped Kerala Water Authority (KWA) is exploring other ‘non-water’ options as well to boost its income. The State government has given the go-ahead for a KWA proposal to use properties owned by it to raise additional income. The water utility proposes to provide consultancy for design and rent out its space for mobile towers, wall painting, parking, film shooting, installing solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations and ATMs.
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10 areas listed
The plan is to generate ‘‘at least 20%’‘ of its revenue from non-water supply activities by utilising vacant land available with the KWA. A KWA board meeting had noted that the utility does not have such projects at the moment except for a few locations where solar panels have been installed.
The KWA has an estimated 1,584 acres in its possession in different parts of the State. Earlier, a core committee headed by the Chief Engineer (Human Resources Development and General) had listed 10 areas where the land can be utilised for generating additional income.
Minister justifies hike
Recently, the State government had approved a proposal to hike water charges in the State by 1 paisa per litre. The new rates had come into effect on February 3. Justifying the hike, Minister for Water Resources Roshy Augustine justified the hike saying it was necessitated by the precarious financial condition of the KWA which has operated on a revenue deficit since its inception.
The KWA had been logging a loss of ₹11.93 on every 1,000 litres of water supplied to consumers as the tariffs were considerably lower than the production and transmission costs. The accumulated loss of the KWA, in 2021-22, was ₹4,911.42 crore.