HUL, Telangana Partner to Expand Suvidha Urban Sanitation Model

The Takeaway

• Telangana and HUL have partnered to scale the Suvidha urban sanitation model across the state’s urban local bodies.
• HUL will serve as the knowledge and design partner, providing technical expertise, operational learnings and behaviour-change approaches.
• Telangana will establish and operate facilities based on the Suvidha model.
• The model brings toilets, safe drinking water, showers and laundry services together under one roof.
• HUL says the Mumbai programme has 26 centres, more than 600,000 annual users and over 10 crore cumulative service uses.
• The Mumbai model uses a public-private partnership and has achieved operational break-even within nine months, according to HUL.
• Telangana’s exact centre count, locations, construction funding and user-fee structure have not yet been specified in the partnership announcement.
• Reported health and financial outcomes from Mumbai should be treated as evidence from that programme, not as guaranteed results for Telangana.

The Government of Telangana and Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) have partnered to scale the Suvidha urban sanitation model across the state’s urban local bodies.

Under the partnership, HUL will serve as a knowledge and design partner, sharing technical expertise, operational learnings and behaviour-change approaches developed through the Suvidha model in Mumbai. The Government of Telangana will use these learnings to establish and operate centres based on the model.

Suvidha centres bring multiple hygiene services together under one roof, including clean toilets, safe drinking water, showers and laundry facilities. HUL says the model was designed around human-centred design, community ownership, sustainable operations and partnerships.

Telangana to Adapt Mumbai’s Suvidha Model

The partnership builds on Suvidha’s experience in Mumbai, where the model was launched in 2016 in partnership with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

HUL currently describes Suvidha as operating through 26 centres and serving more than 600,000 people annually, with more than 10 crore cumulative service uses. While HUL is scaling Nano Distribution Centres across India to ensure your daily essentials arrive faster than ever, this municipal initiative focuses strictly on civic infrastructure. The Mumbai programme has involved HUL, BMC, HSBC India and JSW Foundation, with additional partners supporting operations and governance.

The Telangana agreement represents a different implementation arrangement: HUL’s role is specifically described as providing knowledge, technical expertise, design inputs, operational learnings and behaviour-change approaches, while the Telangana government will establish and operate centres based on these learnings.

What Services Will Suvidha Centres Provide?

The Suvidha model combines several essential hygiene services in a single facility:

• Clean public toilets
• Safe drinking water
• Shower facilities
• Laundry services
• Handwashing facilities
• Inclusive infrastructure designed for different user needs

HUL says its Mumbai centres also incorporate features such as solar power, water-saving systems, greywater treatment and community engagement programmes. The exact facilities and sustainability features to be adopted at Telangana centres will depend on how the state implements the model.

How the Mumbai Model Is Financed and Operated

The Mumbai Suvidha programme is a public-private partnership. HUL’s published information states that HSBC India and JSW Foundation co-fund the centres, while BMC provides land and regulatory support. United Way Mumbai and Pratha Samajik Sanstha have been involved in daily operations and community engagement, with EY serving as a governance partner.

The financial and operational structure for Telangana is not identical in the information currently published by HUL. HUL has only confirmed that it will act as the knowledge and design partner, while the Government of Telangana will establish and operate the centres.

Financial Sustainability of the Suvidha Model

A key feature of the Mumbai Suvidha model is its focus on financially sustainable operations.

HUL says affordable services, including laundry facilities and monthly toilet passes, generate revenue and that its Mumbai centres reach operational break-even within nine months of inception. The model also uses community engagement and behaviour-change programmes to encourage regular use and local ownership.

However, this does not establish that Telangana’s future centres will use exactly the same pricing structure. The state’s implementation details, including user charges and operating arrangements, have not been fully specified in the announcement.

Reported Health and Community Impact

HUL cites independent assessments by RTI, Deloitte and Dalberg in reporting the impact of the Mumbai Suvidha programme.

According to HUL, assessments have found a 50% reduction in reported diarrhoeal incidence among Suvidha users, while the company’s current announcement says households using Suvidha unlock more than ₹33,500 annually through time saved and medical costs avoided. These are reported findings associated with the Mumbai programme and should not be interpreted as guaranteed outcomes for Telangana.

HUL also says the Mumbai model has achieved 95% user satisfaction and more than 10 crore cumulative service uses across a decade.

Suvidha’s Wider National Role

The Telangana partnership is part of a broader effort to share Suvidha’s design and operational learnings.

HUL and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) signed an agreement in 2024 to establish a Centre of Excellence focused on public hygiene and sanitation. The initiative is intended to provide innovation and design expertise to Urban Local Bodies and support the development of model sanitation facilities across Indian cities.

HUL says the Suvidha playbook has since been codified into an open toolkit and adopted nationally through its collaboration with MoHUA.

Suvidha Sanitation Model: Mumbai and Telangana

Metric	Mumbai Suvidha Model	Telangana Partnership
HUL’s role	Social innovation partner and programme participant	Knowledge and design partner
Government role	BMC partnership and support	Telangana Government to establish and operate centres
Core services	Toilets, drinking water, showers and laundry	Based on the Suvidha model
Current scale	26 centres, according to HUL	Scale and locations not yet specified
Annual reach	600,000+ people, according to HUL	Not yet announced
Operating model	Public-private partnership	State-led implementation using HUL’s expertise
Financial model	Operationally self-sustaining in Mumbai, according to HUL	Pricing and financial arrangements not yet specified

The Unboxed Truth

The Telangana-HUL agreement is primarily a knowledge-transfer and design partnership rather than an announcement of HUL directly funding a new network of sanitation centres.

The immediate significance is that Telangana can draw on a decade of Suvidha’s operational and design experience in Mumbai while developing its own facilities through state-led implementation. The eventual impact will depend on how the model is adapted locally, including decisions on locations, construction, operations, community engagement and financial sustainability.

At this stage, the publicly announced agreement does not provide enough information to conclude that Telangana residents will have to pay specific monthly fees, that the state will bear all construction costs, or that NGOs will operate every facility. Those details should be assessed once the state releases its implementation framework.

Best for: Urban communities and local governments looking to improve access to integrated sanitation and hygiene facilities.

Who Is This For: Urban Local Bodies, municipal planners and communities in Telangana that may be covered by future Suvidha-based facilities.

Courtesy: Hindustan Unilever Limited / Government of Telangana

This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute financial, medical or investment advice.