BS Enviro acquires 51% in Skywater India

Skywater's technology converts water vapour in air into drinking water, can produce anywhere from 700 litre to more than 1,200 litre a day

BS Enviro Solutions Limited, a newly-incorporated subsidiary of Hyderabad-based telecom infrastructure company BS Limited, has acquired a 51 per cent stake in air-to-water generators’ manufacturer Skywater India Private Limited.

Skywater, a part of New York-based private investment fund Harbinger Capital Partners, has its research and development (R&D) facility and a manufacturing plant with an installed capacity to churn out 200 units of air-to-water generators a month in Hyderabad. The company’s technology was invented and patented in the US and is being marketed globally.

“The ‘primarily-structured deal’ will involve BS Enviro infusing achievement-based investments of between $5 million and $6 million as growth capital in the joint venture in the next two years,” Sanjay Sultania, managing director of BS Enviro, told mediapersons here on Monday.

Skywater’s technology converts water vapour in the air into drinking water and can produce anywhere from 700 litre to more than 1,200 litre a day. The generator, which weighs 500 kg, costs Rs 10 lakh (ex-factory).

Foreseeing the huge potential in the potable water generation segment, Sultania said, the company was positioning its technology to meet the rural drinking water issues, besides targeting schools, colleges, hospitals and institutions.

Skywater had so far made 50 installations across various states in the country. It is now in the process of installing 100 more such units in Meghalaya.

“We are now trying to demonstrate the solution and convince some state governments to adopt it,” Sultania said, adding the company was working on developing solar-powered air-to-water generators besides looking at options like water sewerage treatment plants and common facilities for biotech companies. “It will take a year or so for the market to evolve and for us to really come out with a strong business plan.”

BS Limited reported revenues of Rs 1,154.78 crore in the last financial year. Its outlook for the current fiscal is Rs 1,800 crore. The company’s scrip ended the trade at Rs 322 on the BSE on Monday, up 1.90 per cent, over the previous close of Rs 316.