Gurgaon: Haryana govt on Monday approved the construction of the city’s third water treatment plant (WTP) at Basai, clearing a Rs 149-crore project to strengthen its drinking water infrastructure amid rising demand.The financial approval for the third WTP was granted by chief minister Nayab Singh Saini during a meeting of the high-powered purchase works committee.The new facility will come up on 77.2 acres opposite the existing Basai WTP. The city currently has two existing water treatment plants — Basai and Chandu Budhera facilities. The plant will have a treatment capacity of 100 million litres per day (MLD).GMDA officials said that the work on the project will start soon and is expected to be completed in two-and-a-half years after the work order is issued.GMDA CEO PC Meena said, “These facilities will further improve the operational efficiency and reliability of the Basai WTP while enabling better treatment and management of potable water. The enhanced treatment and storage infrastructure will improve water availability during peak demand and maintenance periods, enhance water supply to tail-end areas and strengthen the overall resilience of the city’s water supply network.”The plant will use the existing inlet infrastructure to draw raw water, reducing the need for additional intake facilities. It also includes two sedimentation-cum-storage tanks, raw and clear water pump houses, a common clear water sump, chlorination units, transformers, sludge dewatering systems, permanent dewatering arrangements, high-tension and low-tension electrical works, and a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)-based automation system for real-time monitoring and operations.Additionally, a 1,800 mm raw water pipeline will be laid, along with the construction of silt removal clarifiers, RCC ducts and channels, testing and commissioning of the system, and operating and maintaining the plant for five years after the defect liability period.The project underwent multiple revisions since it was first proposed in June 2022. Initially planned as a 90 MLD facility, it was upgraded in 2023 under GMDA’s long-term water infrastructure plan to a 100 MLD plant with larger storage capacity, automated operations and enhanced pumping infrastructure.GMDA then floated two separate tenders for the project in March 2025. The first, estimated at Rs 98.5 crore, included the construction of RCC sand and silt tanks, a 1,800 mm raw water pipeline, silt chambers, RCC channels and a permanent dewatering system.The second tender, estimated at Rs 89 crore, covered the 100 MLD automated water treatment plant, a clear water reservoir, pump houses, a chlorination system, transformers and SCADA-based automation.The project hit a roadblock in Sept 2025, when Haryana govt directed GMDA to discard the separate tenders to ensure transparency and avoid duplication of costs. This led to the reinvitation of bids in Dec 2025 through a consolidated tender with an estimated project cost of Rs 166 crore, which has now been awarded at Rs 149 crore.
