India-Israel Centre of Water Technology in IIT-Madras

Israel and India will collaborate to establish an ‘India - Israel Centre of Water Technology (CoWT) in Water Resources Management and Water Technologies at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras).

The new centre will see Israel’s water technologies tailor-made to suit the Indian requirements and work on sustainable management solutions for the Indian water sector.

“The partnership with IIT-Madras is very important and with our partners in Central Government (AMRUT) and IITM, we will jointly work for better management of water resources of India. This will be done with a focus on introduction of new state of art Israeli technology and know-how in a more sustainable manner”, Lior Asaf, Water Attache, Embassy of Israel said.

This upcoming Centre will help the ‘AMRUT’ Mission of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for achieving its overall targets. In addition, it will pursue joint activities for implementing technological solutions through separate agreements.

A statement from IIT Madras said that CoWT will also work towards the mutual exchange of technology, scientific information, literature, and hold discussions and consultations on various issues in the area with experts from both the countries to address problems in drinking water and sewerage management and to develop new areas of intervention. “We consider this as one of our most important collaborations working on conservation and proper utilisation of Mother Nature’s greatest gift to Mankind - The Water” , V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said.

The centre will also work towards enhancing cooperation in specific areas of capacity-building of Indian water professionals at all levels, demonstrating the projects with the latest technologies.

The two governments also intend to jointly identify specific projects relating to integrated water resources management, urban water supply and non-revenue water, water and sewage recycling, IoT solution and online monitoring, water harvesting, smart data management and AI, among other areas, with the objective of demonstrating most advanced technologies in the field.

Israel is a global leader in Integrated Water Resources Management. The MoHUA will collaborate with MASHAV, Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, to establish the centre.

A letter of Intent to establish the new centre was signed at New Delhi on May 9 by Manoj Joshi, Secretary, MoHUA, V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras and Naor Gilon, Ambassador of Israel to India.