The Hindu Sustainability Summit: ‘Treat waste water as an economic resource’

It was Chennai’s acute water shortage of 1980 that proved to be a turning point for Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL)’s attitude towards used water, pivoting from dependence on Metro Water towards the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, according to P. Kannan, CPCL’s Director (Operations).

He was one of the senior corporates and experts pitching for wastewater to be treated as a valuable economic resources at The Hindu Sustainability Summit 2026 on Wednesday (September 23, 2026). The discussion on ‘Reimagining Water Management for a Circular Future’ was moderated by K. Lakshmi, Deputy Editor, The Hindu .

“We have optimised our water requirements and taken several measures to reduce consumption. For reuse, the water is diverted to our processing units, and wherever possible, we have maximised our reuse capability. As part of our recycling efforts, we are also producing 480 tonnes of steam,” Mr. Kannan said.