DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government will start marketing Ganga-Jal in the country and abroad under the ‘Nirvan Amrit Gangajal’ scheme from next month. The Uttarakhand Provincial Cooperative Union (PCU) has prepared a blueprint for marketing the holy water for 12 million Hindus across the world.
The quality of the ceramic pots (‘kalash’), which are being used for packaging the holy water, are being tested at Khurja’s Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, under CSIR.
Managing director of the state PSU Man Singh Saini said the project would start with an initial investment of Rs 5 crore. “We have set up a Ganga water collection centre at Devprayag, on the banks of the Sangam, the point where the actual Ganga begins with the merger of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers,” he said.
“Around 85% of Hindus settled abroad use Gangajal in their life and 42% of people always store the sacred water at their homes,” Saini claimed.
Manager Deepak Mehta told this reporter that Gangajal would be marketed at a cost of Rs 251 for a 300 ml pack. The PSU is engaging Indian Postal Department, Flipkart and Amazon for the marketing. "The proceeds of the sale will go towards the cost of manufacturing of ceramic pots, courier charges, potter cost, honorarium to self-help groups engaged in water collection and the retailers’ share", Mehta said.
A project officer said the state government’s initiative came in the wake of the fact that many companies are selling water in bottles with wrappers of Gangajal on it. The number of such companies is around 110. However, none of these companies had a water collection centre on the banks of the holy river.