ICEX highlights desalination as a source of opportunities for Spanish companies in India

The magnitude of India's water challenges, coupled with its economic and industrial growth, is driving massive investments aimed at ensuring water security for both its population and productive sectors, according to ICEX in a publication on iAgua.

In its analysis, ICEX highlights that population growth, urbanization, industrial expansion, and agricultural intensification are creating water stress across virtually the entire country. This problem is exacerbated by the overexploitation of underground aquifers. For this reason, desalination has gone from being a marginal technology in India to becoming a fundamental element of national water planning. "The country is promoting new projects for both urban and industrial water supply, especially in coastal states, where the availability of seawater facilitates the implementation of these facilities." Thus, while the sector is still developing, it shows significant expansion potential: in 2025, the estimated market value was $740 million, and it is expected to exceed $1.12 billion by 2031.

Spanish companies, for their part, have become a global leader in desalination, with decades of accumulated experience in water-stressed regions. ICEX highlights that "the capacity to design, build, and operate large desalination infrastructures places Spanish companies in a privileged position to participate in the expansion of the Indian market." Furthermore, Spain benefits from a positive image: Spanish companies are internationally recognized for their leadership in reverse osmosis technologies, energy recovery, digitalization of operations, and efficient management of large-scale hydraulic infrastructure.

ICEX identifies the states of Gujarat—one of the most industrialized in the country—and Tamil Nadu, whose capital, Chennai, is one of Asia's leading centers for desalination projects, as key areas of opportunity. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are other regions offering promising prospects. "For Spain, whose water industry is among the most advanced in the world, the country represents a top-tier strategic opportunity. The experience accumulated by Spanish companies in complex projects, along with their capacity to offer efficient, sustainable, and technologically advanced solutions, makes them ideal partners to support the development of India's water infrastructure in the coming years," the analysis concludes.

Read the ICEX publication on iAgua