Kerala state PSU opens second bottled water plant to produce ‘Hilly Aqua’

• Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan state PSU KIDC's bottled water plant at Aruvikkara

• Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIDC) produces govt's packaged water 'Hilly Aqua'

• While the market price for bottled water is Rs 20 per litre, 'Hilly Aqua' will be sold at Rs 13 per litre

Thiruvananthapuram: (State PSU News) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday inaugurated the much-awaited bottled water plant at Aruvikkara. This is the second such manufacturing unit to be set up in the public sector in the state. The plant envisaged making the government's packaged drinking water brand 'Hilly Aqua', was set up by the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIDC). Launching the plant via video conferencing, the Chief Minister said the state government was committed to providing drinking water at an affordable rate and that it would increase the production and supply of quality bottled water from the plant as demand increases. Hilly Aqua was first produced from a plant in Thodupuzha, he said.

Hilly Water to be sold at Rs 13

While the market price for the bottled water was Rs 20, the 'Hilly Aqua' could be made available for the public at Rs 13 which was widely accepted, the Chief Minister said adding that even private players were forced to follow suit. Detailing the features of the new facility, he said as many as 2,720 bottles of 20 litres each can be filled per day at the Aruvikkara plant. In the initial phase, 20 litres of bottled water would be distributed at a price of Rs 20 each. The required bottles would be manufactured at the plant itself, he added.

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The Thiruvananthapuram unit of the all-women network Kudumbashree has designated a six-member team called 'Santhvanam' for distribution and marketing of the drinking water produced from the new plant. The government was bringing out the 'Hilly Aqua' after purifying the water using state-of-the-art technology. As the government's bottled water would get manufactured from Aruvikkara plant along with the one in Thodupuzha, quality drinking water would be available to the public at an affordable price, official sources added. 

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