In 2020, Carlsberg Group announced its first project with Desolenator – the world’s first solar thermal sustainable water purification technology – in a priority river basin shared by the Kolkata brewery.

The installation in the Sundarbans, West Bengal, will convert saline-contaminated water into 20,000 litres of clean water a day using technology powered by 100% renewable energy. Around 4,000 people will benefit in the region, where rising sea levels are contaminating the last remaining freshwater sources.

Construction will be completed in 2021. Multi-disciplinary partners, including local experts Water Aid and the Sundarban Social Development Centre as well as researchers from Strathclyde University in Scotland, are designing a water distribution model that will generate employment for local women by empowering female micro-entrepreneurs.