In September 2019, The New Indian Express reported that the Tamil Nadu government, through an order of its municipal administration department, had approved Rs 6,079 crore for a reverse osmosis plant with 400,000 m³/day in Perur along the East Coast Road. The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was to contribute Rs 4,267.70 crore, paid out in two tranches, the first worth Rs 1,744.40 crore. Twenty years of operation and maintenance were estimated to cost Rs 20,174.14 crore, while a 30-year land lease came to Rs 82 crore.
The report showed the scale of the running costs: the estimate for twenty years of operation was more than three times the sum approved for building the plant.
Source: The New Indian Express