<div>The next time you go to a KFC or a McDonald’s or any five-star hotel and wondered how standards are maintained here, chances are that Ecolab’s products are being used. Ecolab has been a pioneer in the hygiene chemicals business for over 70 years now. It has become an industry leader in helping corporates provide their customers clean water, safe food and clean energy. Two years ago, Ecolab acquired Nalco, a water and energy solutions company, for $5.8 billion. This allowed Ecolab, a $7 billion company, to focus operations in emerging markets. <strong>Darrell Brown,</strong> executive vice president of the APAC region, and <strong>Mahesh Rao, </strong>MD of the India business spoke to BW | Businessworld’s <strong>Vishal Krishna </strong>on why water management solutions were needed in markets with high growth.<br /><br /><strong>What is your strategy in emerging markets where consumption of water is the single largest concern?<br /></strong><strong>Darrell Brown: </strong>Our strategy has been to follow the large corporate companies across the world. These are companies that consume a lot of water and also energy. The acquisition of Nalco is like a marriage made in heaven. Nalco has technology that can not only just assess the consumption levels of water- both inbound and outbound- but control optimal entry of chemicals and water therefore optimizing the usage. Ecolabs itself works on several business models such as build, operate, maintain and transfer. But the challenge to get local corporates in emerging markets to use such technology requires a lot of education and awareness. The key is sustainability, it is a central issue that is being discussed all over the world and our technologies can help reduce cost and protect the environment. But everything is dependent on the appetite for change. <br /><br /><strong>Mahesh Rao: </strong>We have several large companies that can use our services. The small and medium businesses strategy is absolutely necessary in a country like India. We have so many droughts and water scarcity in many cities. And it is not just water, our solutions can tell you about hygiene in farm animals, trace e-coli and bacteria, maintain freshness when the produce is transported to factories and retail chains. That apart we have HVAC technologies because large manufacturing companies need ambient clean air for both product and people. India is a large automobile hub now. We can play a major role in processing paints, make better coolants, make the paint shop use less water and dispose the paint in dry form. Our products fit in to every cycle of the automobile industry. <br /><br /><strong>What will be high growth markets as the world economy has slowed down and what roles should government play for sustainable policies?<br /></strong><strong>Darrell Brown: </strong>The government needs to set standards and regulations. Be it India or China, it is the job of different stake holders to start at the grassroots level. There is a clear need to move towards sustainable economies because going green for us is not another credential; we are a company that focuses on green technologies. In the current scenario China, India and Indonesia will be key growth markets for us. <br /><br /><strong>Mahesh Rao: </strong>There is need to drive innovation and every government wants water resources to be made available. The possibilities of providing water are endless; desalination plants in Chennai use our membranes in filters and it is only a matter of time before sea water gets transported through long distances. But before all that happens, industry in emerging markets has to adapt to best practices when it comes to safe food, clean water and environment. Our Indian business is growing 17-22 per cent CAGR and the turnover is between Rs 300-400 crore. We can be a large company in India within five years because using clean technologies is a necessity to be globally competitive.<br /><br /><strong>What role does the subsidiary Kay Chemical Company play?</strong><br /><strong>Darrell Brown: </strong>Kay is primarily in to providing sanitising solutions for retail and food businesses. Helps provide guest safety by creating clean environment in hotels. The company supports various institutions such as hospitals. <br /><br /><strong>How important can the farm-to-fork connect be in India?</strong><br /><strong>Mahesh Rao: </strong>We have so many co-op farmers in the country that supply to large companies like Mother Dairy and Amul. The farm-to-fork business is here to stay in India and we can support the business through the supply chain. The main reason for our involvement would be to improve the quality of the product and reduce costs for the Corporate. <br /><br /><em>businessworldonline (at) gmail (dot) com</em><br /> </div>
