The Water Industry Alliance successfully led its first delegation at the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII-Triveni Water Institute) 3rd Water Innovation Summit, promoting its members and providing support for them to establish business relationships in India.

The WIA’s unique approach to the targeted business capabilities matching mission, held in New Delhi, saw its members having direct access to over 200 Indian water industry organisations seeking information on how Australian water expertise can boost their operations.

The WIA is committed to raising the profile of the Australian water industry and demonstrating our capabilities in this market. The delegation included a selection of members from across Australia with expertise throughout the water cycle, including:

•             Hydro-dis Water Treatment Systems

•             HydroNumerics

•             Optimatics

•             Plumbing Products Industry Group

•             Sentek

•             Swan Systems

•             ICE WaRM

•             SA Water

“The WIA is building on the existing relationships in India developed over time by us and the South Australian government,” CEO Rachel Barrett said.

“We have some good networks and relationships already built in India and Australia is becoming better known because of the work being done by the government and other organisations like AusTrade and Australian Water Partnership.

“The opportunities are quite enormous because the challenges there are significant – there’s an increasing focus on the urgency and so they’re looking for solutions now.

“The commitment from the Indian Government to a range of projects demonstrate that water is high-priority and is seen as one of the most critical issues to enable them to progress as a country.

“Having completed a review and learning more about India, the WIA has made a strategic decision to work closely on the government initiatives while also focusing more on building partnerships and relationships with the private sector.”

Most WIA members looking to provide services or technologies in India will find the need to partner with an Indian company, which highlights the importance of showcasing our water expertise to the private sector who may be interested in investing or partnering to deliver Australian water services or technology.

“The CII is really important because they’re a credible organisation made up of those influential, powerful and forward-thinking Indian companies - and they’re the companies that we want our members to get to know,” Rachel said.

“We’re about business to business – that’s our advantage.”

Delegate places on the mission were supported by the Australian Water Partnership, and also made possible by the generous support of the South Australian Government.

Members looking to export into key international growth markets will benefit from the WIA’s increasing support to help build and foster international connections and partnerships as we look to conduct more business delegations in the future.