Suez targets 10 percent revenue growth from Indian water supply

PARIS (Reuters) - France's Suez sees potential for 10 percent revenue growth in India, where it already supplies water for 44 million people, a senior executive said on Friday. The Indian market is largely in public hands and Suez runs 23 drinking water and waste water plants owned by municipalities, mostly under a "Design, Build, Operate" (DBO) model in big cities. Suez had revenue of 100 million euros ($104 million) in India in 2015, of which 40 million came from building plants and about 30 million from services to industry. Our growth potential is about 10 percent per year in India for the next three to five years," Suez's chief for Africa, Middle East and India Pierre-Yves Pouliquen told Reuters. India is small compared to China, where Suez had revenue of 1.2 billion euros in 2015, but rapid urbanisation is creating opportunities and Pouliquen estimates its drinking water market at $3 billion and its waste water market at $750 million. Suez competes in India with local water specialists such as Vatech Vabag and Ion Exchange and construction giant Larsen & Toubro. ($1 = 0.9588 euros) (Reporting by Geert De Clercq; Additional reporting by Tommy Wilkes in New Delhi; Editing by Ruth Pitchford and Alexander Smith)