In November 2016, Water. Desalination + reuse (Faversham House) reported that Chennai's water utility Metrowater had launched tenders for a new 150,000 m³/day reverse osmosis desalination plant at Nemmeli. It sought bidders for design and build, a 20-year maintenance contract, construction supervision with environmental and social monitoring, and a 40 km pipeline to Pallavaram. The 10.5-acre site lay beside an existing 100,000 m³/day facility. Costs of INR 1,372 crore (US$202 million) were to be covered by a KfW loan plus state and central government grants.
The report showed Chennai building desalination into a mainstay of its supply and combining international development lending with national funding schemes.