In July 2019, Moneycontrol carried a PTI report that the refinery operator MRPL (Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited) had been forced by water scarcity that summer to idle two of its three units. Managing director M Venkatesh announced a portable desalination plant of 3 million gallons per day for the following summer. The permanent 70,000 m³/day plant at Tannirbhavi was due to run by the end of 2020. VA Tech Wabag held the Rs 620 crore contract, including ten years of operation.
The report showed how water scarcity forced an industrial site on the Karnataka coast to halt production, turning desalination there from a planning topic into a question of operational security.
Source: Moneycontrol