India’s bittersweet story over the years – the availability of drinking water is finally approaching a safer chapter. At Independence in 1947, only 6% of rural India had access to safe drinking water – a figure that has gone up to 82%.

For the remaining 19 percent, efforts are on for various water purification programmes like reverse osmosis and electro dialysis, the market for which has grown substantially over the last three years.

New players like Procter & Gamble are also poised to enter the water purification market in India through its ‘Pure’ brands of products, which can be fitted into faucets, pitchers, taps and storage drums. Meanwhile, archrival Hindustan Lever Ltd. is gearing to test market its new venture, water-purifying brand ‘Pure It’, with the larger objective of launching purifiers across small metros, towns and cities.