Palaniswami to visit Israel to study water management: TN minister

Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will soon visit Israel to study and get the latest technologies used by the country for water management, said state Industries minister MC Sampath on Wednesday (October 30).

Sampath, who was in Delhi to participate in a workshop on ‘Make In India’ organised by the Commerce And Industry Ministry, told reporters that Israel, by introducing new water management and conservation techniques, has produced vast quantities of agricultural produce.

Israel is considered a well-established leader in water management, desalination and recycling techniques. It treats 80 per cent of its domestic waste water, which is recycled for farm use and constitutes nearly 50 per cent of the total water used for agriculture.

Also read: After US, Europe, Palaniswami plans next investment trip to Israel

Earlier on Wednesday, speaking at the 13th World Aqua Congress in Delhi, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had cited Israel’s expertise in water conservation. He had also said that India’s per capita water availability has come down drastically and if people don’t take saving water seriously, Chennai and Bangalore will face water shortage.

A few weeks ago, Palaniswami had undertaken a 14-day tour of the US, the UK and the UAE to woo investors. The AIADMK government has claimed that the visit was a success.

Addressing the workshop-meeting, minister Sampath said that Tamil Nadu had the highest number of SEZs in the country and urged the Centre to extend concessions and incentives to SEZ investors till March 2023. Sector-specific SEZs should be converted into multi-purpose SEZs to bring more investments.

TN should get financial help to meet the demand from the Chinese industries to invest in the state under “plug and play” mode due to ongoing US-China trade war. “Land allocation and infrastructure development funds needed for country-specific, sector-specific industrial parks in TN. Free trade agreement should be signed with UK and European countries quickly to help TN textile industries meet competitions and challenges of Vietnam, Cambodia and Bangladesh,” he said.