TATA Unveil Lifesaving Water Purifier
Posted by Neil Payne on December 7th, 2009At about two feet tall, it may turn out to be the world’s most compact revolution: The Tata Swach, launched Monday, is a water purifier priced for the masses, which India’s Tata Group hopes will help save the lives of millions of people who die each year of waterborne diseases.
“This is opening up a complete new market,” said R. Mukundan, managing director of Tata Chemicals Ltd. “It doesn’t compete with any existing product.”
Will This Product Save Millions Of Lives?
The Tata Swach — Hindi for “clean” — meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, doesn’t require running water, electricity, or boiling and is priced so that the mass of rural Indian consumers can afford it, executives said.
Group chairman Ratan Tata is scheduled to announce the sale price later Monday.
The water filter grew out of a decade of research and development, led by three different companies in the Tata Group. Tata is one of India’s largest conglomerates, making everything from table salt to Jaguar automobiles — as well as the ultra-cheap Nano compact car, which like the Swach filter targets a lower income rural market many companies have ignored.
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