Mint Sustainability Summit: Bisleri CEO pushes for water credits to address water scarcity in India

Bisleri International CEO Angelo George on Tuesday stressed the urgent need for water credits as a solution to the growing water scarcity in India. Mint Sustainability Summit 2024He proposed a cap-and-trade mechanism to encourage water conservation and ensure regulatory compliance, with the aim of curbing the overexploitation of this critical resource.

“Obviously, markets are not set up for water credits, but the carbon credit market, which is already established and working well, offers a framework that can be adopted,” George said. “A cap-and-trade mechanism could be useful in this sector and define the monetary value of a water credit. If it somehow motivates people to save water, then they could redeem those savings as carbon credits.”

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Bisleri is actively working with the government to facilitate discussions and develop a framework for water credits specifically tailored for the beverage industry. This initiative is designed to make beverage manufacturers more responsible for their water use.

George highlighted that while India has one of the largest populations in the world, it holds only 4% of the world’s groundwater resources. Per capita groundwater availability has declined dramatically over the past 70 years, shrinking by almost a quarter.

Population growth, rapid urbanization and poor conservation efforts have put severe pressure on India’s water tables.

But George believes that despite a 25% depletion of groundwater over the past 70 years, the trend can be reversed to achieve a surplus in the next 70 years.

He noted that agriculture accounts for 85% of groundwater extraction, urging a shift towards water-efficient crops and more efficient farming methods.

Organizations must be held accountable beyond their immediate operations, as water consumption within production facilities accounts for only about 9% of the total water footprint, George stressed.

“If I use a particular packaging material to sell Bisleri, the water used for that packaging material, its production, transportation to my plants and final transportation to the consumer must be considered as a water footprint for my business.”

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George also pointed to the lack of a uniform national water policy, as water rights and regulations vary widely across states. He underlined the importance of a monetization mechanism to effectively measure and reward water savings.

“Water saving in Kerala, where monsoons are abundant, and water saving in Rajasthan, need to be rewarded differently, and that is a challenge we are trying to understand. So ideally, both carbon credits and water credits would reward and provide economic incentives to people to conserve things that are critical to the environment,” he explained.

Countries such as China, Kenya and Morocco have already made progress in developing water credits, George added.

Bisleri has partnered with TERI School of Advanced Studies to conduct a study that will set benchmarks for the beverage industry’s commitment to water conservation. This initiative is particularly significant as several major beverage companies have faced criticism for drawing water from water-scarce regions, prompting them to report initiatives to replenish the water used in their manufacturing processes.

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“We replenish more water than we extract from the ground and our entire business model is set up around that,” he concluded.