KOZHIKODE: One-and-a-half-litre bottles of drinking water from Hilly Aqua under the Water Authority will hit the market in the first week of December. The price is Rs 20. In the first phase, bottled water will be supplied from the plant at Aruvikkara. 19,920 bottles of one-and-a-half litres of water will be produced daily in one shift. In the first phase, 39,840 bottles of drinking water will be produced in two shifts. As per the acceptance, bottled water will be produced at plants in Thodupuzha also.

One-and-a-half litre bottles of water are being brought to the market since one litre bottled water, which was brought to the market for Rs 15, increased in demand. Hilly Aqua is being marketed by the Kerala Irrigation Infrastructure Development Corporation (KIIDD), a public sector undertaking. Water from the Thodupuzha and Aruvikkara dams is being purified.

Hilly Aqua will arrive in the Gulf by the end of this month with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the irrigation infrastructure development corporation and the UAE-based company. The contract is for three years. The target is 30 per cent additional revenue. Assistant Marketing Manager Vishnu Surya said that legal proceedings for the export are continuing. One container each of half, one-and-a-half, five and 20 litres each will reach abroad first. Bottled water worth Rs 40 lakh will be exported.

Price as follows

1.5 litres - Rs 20

1 litre - Rs 15

2 litres - Rs 28

5 litres - Rs 60

"Hilly Aqua's acceptance in the public market has increased. One and a half litre bottled water will be released in the market soon."

- V. Saji, Hilly Aqua Senior General Manager