Stockholm water week: Tata Group breaks ground with industrial water footprint

Indian multinational Tata Group officially received the report on its industrial water footprint from the Water Footprint Network during the Stockholm Water Week .

The report covers a groundbreaking assessment of the water use and water pollution by all twelve industrial plants of Tata Chemicals, Tata Motors, Tata Power and Tata Steel.

 Director Ruth Mathews (middle)  and Guoping Zhang (left) of the Water footprint network handed over the report to Bastiaan Mohrmann (right) of International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, that also participated in this groundbreaking project on 3 September.

Prioritizing actions to reduce water use
It was for the first time that the newly developed Water Footprint Assessment was used for such a comprehensive industrial water study. By assessing sustainability of it’s water footprint Tata is able to prioritize its strategic actions for reducing associated impacts, in the local watershed of the individual plants and in their supply chains.

 First budding awareness
“As industries face water shortages and stricter pollution regulations, it becomes increasingly important to have a clear path to firstly understand water issues and secondly, to prioritize where to put investments in improvements. Water Footprint Assessment guides a company from the first budding awareness to an in-depth action plan and in the process increases their water intelligence. These four Tata companies now have a higher water I.Q.” said Ruth Mathews, Executive Director, Water Footprint Network.

Structural way to address water issues
“Tata companies believe that efficient water management should be an integral part of the corporate strategy of any socially responsible business,” said Arunavo Mukerjee, Vice President  Advisory Services of Tata Cleantech Capital. “The Water Footprint Assessment methodology gave us a structured way to address water issues within plant boundaries, in the supply chain and in the watershed to arrive at a comprehensive response strategy.”

 Catalyzing other industrial companies
"The strategic corporate water partnership with the Tata Group will demonstrate successful water sustainability interventions at a leading multi-national business group, with the aim of catalyzing similar interventions across other industrial players." Bastiaan Mohrmann, Head Water Advisory South Asia of IFC.

 About the Water Footprint Assessment
The Water Footprint Assessment (WFA) is a tool - a free online web application - assisting users in water footprint quantification, sustainability assessment and response formulation. It can be used by companies, governments, NGOs, investors, consultants, researchers or anyone else interested in the Water Footprint. The version 1.0 of the tool is free available online .

 Download the full report: Footprint Assessment: Tata Chemicals, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Steel: Results and Learning.
(scroll down: Corporate water footprint publications)

 This news item is based on the original press release published on the website of the Water Footprint Network.

More information
Water Footprint Network
Enschede, the Netherlands
+31 53 489 5383
www.waterfootprint.org

More on Stockholm Water Week on this site
- Stockholm water week: New platform addresses conflicting claims over fresh water use, 5 September 2013
- Stockholm water week: Collaboration with private sector make water suppliers aware water delivery is a service, 4 September 2013
- Stockholm water week: “Put nature-based solutions at the heart of sustainable WASH”, 3 September 2013
- Stockholm Water Week: Dutch activities on the exhibition floor, 3 September 2013 
- Stockholm Water Week: “Only collective action can deliver water services that last”, 3 September 2013
- Busy agenda for Dutch water experts at Stockholm Water week 2013, 30 August 2013
- Student's idea Green Cities chosen as Dutch entry for Stockholm Junior Water Prize, 16 June 2013