An Iranian engineering consulting company won an international tender to carry out an integrated water resources management (IWRM) project in India.
According to IRNA, the privately-run Mahab Ghodss, a leading engineering consultancy company, will implement the project in the state of Odisha situated along the eastern coast of Indian Subcontinent along the Bay of Bengal.
The Iranian company also won an international tender to help build a dam and a hydroelectric power plant in Tanzania in 2019 and it is now providing consulting services for the Egyptian contractor of the project, El Sewedy Electric Company.
The enterprise won the bid in a tough competition with foreign rivals like Italy's Electroconsult and Australia's professional services engineering company, SMEC.
"The company has been awarded contracts for infrastructure projects in over 15 countries, including Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Equatorial Guinea, Qatar, Albania and Germany," Nasser Tarkeshdouz, CEO of the corporation, said.
IWRM promotes the coordinated development and management of water, land and related resources to maximize economic and social welfare in an equitable manner without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems. It is based on the understanding that water resources are an integral component of the ecosystem, a natural resource and a social and economic good.
Referring to ongoing projects, Tarkeshdouz added that the firm is completing projects ranging from constructing dams in Oman, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Uganda to determining energy generation and installed capacity value in hydropower reservoirs systems and also runoff-river and pumped storage power plants in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal.
International Tenders
Mahab Ghodss has been among short-listed companies in numerous international tenders for World Bank and other development institutions all over the world.
“We aim to further expand our international market and assume engineering challenges in the full life cycle of projects, including feasibility, design, field measurement, exploratory investigation, laboratory testing, construction supervision and management as well as operation, maintenance, repairs and rehabilitation works,” the official said.
Completing almost 2,000 local and international infrastructure projects, the firm offers engineering services for water treatment plants, wastewater collection units and recycling plants.
So far, Mahab Ghodss has designed and supervised the construction of 52 dams in Iran, of which 23 are operational, he added.
"Mahab Ghodss has played a key role in the development of several dams, including Karoun III and IV concrete double curvature arch dam and hydropower plant, Karkheh earthfill dam, Gotvand earthfill dam, Salman Farsi concrete gravity dam, Shahid Rajaei concrete double curvature arch dam and Maroun rockfill dam and hydropower plant," the CEO added.
IWRM is a cross-sectoral policy approach designed to replace the traditional, fragmented sectoral approach to water resources and management that has led to poor services and unsustainable resource use.
The basis of IWRM is that the many different uses of finite water resources are interdependent. High irrigation demands and polluted drainage flows from agriculture, for example, mean less freshwater for drinking or industrial use; contaminated municipal and industrial wastewater pollutes rivers and threatens ecosystems; if water has to be left in a river to protect fisheries and ecosystems, less can be diverted to grow crops.
Positive Contribution
According to Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, the water and power sectors have made a positive contribution to exports of technical and engineering services in the past few years.
“Water and electricity services account for almost 60% of Iran's total exports of technical and engineering services,” he said.
“In 2016, water and power services made up 40% of engineering exports, which have now increased to 60% and are expected to rise further in the next two years.”
Mehrabian noted that the ministry is keen on supporting domestic companies to increase the export of technical and engineering services.
“Raising funds from domestic investors to carry out water and power projects is on the agenda of the ministry," he said.
According to data published by the ministry, Iranian contractors have completed 100 energy projects overseas worth at least $5 billion over the last few years.
