In September 2024, Maharashtra's Lokayukta (ombudsman) V M Kanade asked the state government to consider a desalination plant as an additional water source for Mumbai. He did so while hearing a petition on water theft in the city. The Urban Development Department was asked to report whether any study had been done. Shortly before, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had scrapped the tender for its Rs 3,520 crore (35.2 billion rupees) desalination project, as only Israel-based IDE Technologies had bid despite several extensions.
The report showed desalination being urged in Mumbai as a way out of the yearly dependence on the monsoon, just as the city's flagship project tender had been scrapped for lack of bidders.
Source: The Indian Express