DISTILLERY WASTEWATER TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL

ABSTRACT

1.             One of the most important environmental problems faced by the world is management of wastes. Industrial processes create a variety of waste water pollutants; which are difficult and costly to treat. Wastewater characteristics and levels of pollutants vary significantly from industry to industry. Now-a-days emphasis is laid on waste minimization and revenue generation through byproduct recovery. Pollution prevention focuses on preventing the generation of wastes, while waste minimization refers to reducing the volume or toxicity of hazardous wastes by water recycling and reuse, and process modifications and the byproduct recovery as a fall out of manufacturing process creates ample scope for revenue generation thereby offsetting the costs substantially.

                                                     

2.             Production of ethyl alcohol in distilleries based on cane sugar molasses constitutes a major industry in Asia and South America.  The world’s total production of alcohol from cane molasses is more than13 million m³/annum.  The aqueous distillery effluent stream known as spent wash is a dark brown highly organic effluent and is approximately 12-15 times by volume of the product alcohol.  It is one of the most complex, troublesome and strongest organic industrial effluents, having extremely high COD and BOD values. Because of the high concentration of organic load, distillery spent wash is a potential source of renewable energy.  The paper reviews the status and appropriate treatment alternatives for disposal of the distillery wastewater.

KEYWORDS

Distillery Spentwash, Revenue Generation, Byproduct Recovery.

INTRODUCTION

1.             Production of ethyl alcohol in distilleries based on cane sugar molasses constitutes a major industry in Asia and South America.  The world’s total production of alcohol from cane molasses is more than13 million m³/annum.  The aqueous distillery effluent stream known as spent wash is a dark brown highly organic effluent and is approximately 12-15 times by volume of the product alcohol.  It is one of the most complex, troublesome and strongest organic industrial effluents, having extremely high COD and BOD values. Because of the high concentration of organic load, distillery spent wash is a potential source of renewable energy. 

2.             The 295 distilleries in India produce 2.7 billion litres of alcohol and generating 40 billion litres of wastewater annually. The enormous distillery wastewater has potential to produce 1100 million cubic meters of biogas. The population equivalent of distillery wastewater based on BOD has been reported to be as high as 6.2 billion which means that contribution of distillery waste in India to organic pollution is approximately seven times more than the entire Indian population. The wastewater from distilleries, major portion of which is spentwash, is nearly 15 times the total alcohol production. This massive quantity, approximately 40 billion litres of effluent, if disposed untreated can cause considerable stress on the water courses leading to widespread damage to aquatic 

                                                    

ALCOHOL MANUFACTURING PROCESS AND NATURE OF DISTILLERY WASTE WATER

           

3.             In India bulk of the alcohol is being produced from sugar cane molasses. Molasses is a thick viscous byproduct of the sugar industry which is acidic in nature, rich in salts, dark brown in colour and it also contains sugar which could not be crystallized. For manufacturing alcohol, the Molasses is diluted with water into a solution containing 15-16 % of sugars. This solution is then inoculated with yeast strain and is allowed to ferment at room temperature. The fermented wash is distilled in a series of distillation columns to obtain alcohol of adequate/ requisite strength and quality/specification. This alcohol is used for various purposes including potable and industrial. For manufacture of alcoholic beverages, the alcohol is, if required, matured and blended with malt alcohol (for manufacture of whisky) and diluted to requisite strength to obtain the desired type of liquor/ Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). This is bottled in bottles of various sizes for the convenience of consumers.

           

S.No.	Parameter	Range
1.	pH	4.3-5.3
2.	Total Suspended Solids	12,000-14,000
3.	Total Dissolved Solids	45,000-75,000
4.	B.O.D., 20 0C, 5 days	40,000-50,000
5.	C.O.D.	80,000-1,00,000

BIO-ENERGY POTENTIAL FROM DISTILLERY EFFLUENTS

4.             In India there are 295 distilleries producing 3.20 billion litres of alcohol generating 45 billion litres of wastewater annually.  The enormous distillery wastewater has potential to produce 1200 million cubic meters of biogas.  The post methanation wastewater if used carefully for irrigation of agricultural crops can produce more than 85000 tonne of biomass annually. This biogas normally contains 60% methane gas, which is a well-recognized fuel gas with minimum air pollution potential. If this source of energy is tapped, it will fetch additional energy units worth 5 trillion-kilo calories annually. Besides, the Post Methanation Effluent (PME) can provide 245000 tones of potassium, 12500 tones of nitrogen and 2100 tones of phosphorus annually.  Thus the manorial potential of effluent can be measured by the fact that one year’s effluent can meet the potassium requirement of 1.55 million hectare land, nitrogen requirement of 0.13 million hectare land and phosphorus requirement of 0.025 million hectare land if two crops are taken in a year.

Annual Bio energy Potential of Distillery Effluent in Various States of India
State	Units	Capacity (M Ltr/Yr)	Effluent (M Ltr/Yr)	Biogas (M m3)	Total N (tones)	Total Ka (tones)	Biomass (tones)
A P	24	123	1852	50	566	11115	3704
Assam	1	2	24	0.7	7	144	48
Bihar	13	88	1323	35.7	397	7940	2646
Goa	6	15	218	6	65	1304	436
Gujarat	10	128	1919	51.8	576	11511	3838
Karnataka	28	187	2799	75.6	840	16794	5598
M P	21	469	7036	190	2111	42219	14072
Maharashtra	65	625	9367	253	2810	56217	18734
Punjab	8	88	1317	35.6	395	7902	2634
Tamilnadu	19	212	3178	86	953	1971	6356
U P	43	617	9252	250	2776	55512	18504
W B	6	24	371	10.1	111	22223	742
Rajasthan	7	14	202	3	61	1215	404
Kerala	8	23	343	9.3	103	2064	686
Pondicherry	3	11	165	4.5	50	990	330
Sikkim	1	7	98	5.5	29	585	196
Nagaland	1	2	24	0.7	7	144	48
J & K	7	24	366	11	110	2196	732
H P	2	3	39	1	12	234	78
Haryana	5	41	615	16.6	185	3690	1230
Total	285	2703	40,508	1096.1	12,154	263,070	81016

PRESENT STATUS OF TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL

5.             Spent wash treatment is proposed by three different routes currently viz;  (a) Concentration followed by incineration, (b)  Anaerobic digestion with biogas recovery followed by aerobic polishing and  (c) Direct wet oxidation of stillage by air at high temperature with generation of steam followed by aerobic polishing. All of these processes are capital intensive. The incineration process involves an investment of the order of 400% of the distillery cost, whereas the other two processes along with the secondary treatment require an investment of 200-300% of the distillery cost. The unfavourable economics make it difficult to implement these treatment processes on the plant scale. Because anaerobic digestion and wet oxidation are less expensive, these alternatives are more attractive.  However, there is a need for development of a suitable process with lower investments and higher energy recovery.  Many distilleries in India are allowing their effluent for application on land as direct irrigation water, spent wash cake and spent wash-press mud compost. The advances manifesting the possibilities of energy conservation are also discernible in the case of distilleries. The methane gas generated in the digesters is used as a fuel to compensate the energy needs of the industry. A general estimate suggests that the cost of an anaerobic biological digester is recovered within 2-3 years of installation because of substantial saving of coal and other fuels. 

COST RECOVERY METHODS FROM THE DISTILLERY EFFLUENTS

6.             The wastewaters generated during the distillery and brewery operations contain high organic loads. It has a BOD from 30,000 to 60,000 mg/1. So due to this high organic contents, the wastewaters can be subjected to treatment for the produc­tion of biogas, composting, aquaculture and potash recovery.

(a)           BIOGAS.    For the production of biogas from distillery effluent, anaerobic biomethanation of the effluent is adopted, generally.  High rate anaerobic technologies are utilized for biogas generation. Fluidised Bed Reactors and Up flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) Reactors are mostly utilized for the production of biogas from the effluents. Some of the biogas production processes being commercial1y established in India at present are:-

·         BIOTHANE PROCESS:  This process uses the UASB reactor for the production of biogas. This is a stable and automatic process with low operational costs.

·         BIOBED PROCESS: It is similar to Bio thane process. It uses UFB reactors. It needs less installation area and its construction cost is lower compared to any other system.

·         BIOPAQ PROCESS: In this process anaerobic bacteria are used to treat the distillery effluents for the production of biogas. UASB proc­ess is utilized here. The separated sludge in this process makes excellent manure. The generated biogas is used to produce steam for the distillation of alcohol and thus it replaces 50-60% of the total required energy in the process of distillation. For a plant having 40-45,000 kg COD/day 75-80% of COD can be reduced and nearly Rs. 25.50 lakhs can be saved annually for a distillery having 300 working days in a year. The generated biogas from UASB reactor of BioPaq process can be collected and be used as a fuel in gas/dual engine. Through suitable coupling the engine can be coupled with the A/C generator for generation of electricity from biogas. For a 45 klpd distillery 11 KV of power is generated which is then utilized in the distillery thus cut­ting down the power consumption.

·         SULZER' S PROCESS: The technology of this type of biogas plant is provided by Sulzer Brothers Limited, Switzerland. It is specifically made for Indian conditions. A biogas plant at the distillery of Padmashri Dr. Vitthalrao Vikhe Patil S.S.K. Ltd., Pravaranagar, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra is based on Sulzer's technology. The capacity of this distillery is 6,000 lpd which generates 900 m3 of spent wash per day. The biogas production is in the range of 16,550 to 21,870 m3 per day. The savings in the cost of fuel is in the range of Rs. 312 lakhs to Rs. 652 lakhs per year.

o    ECONOMICS OF THE BIOGAS PLANT OF SULZER’S DESIGN

These calculations are made for a distillery producing 30,000 litres of alcohol per day. The effluent characteristics are for conventional batch type fermentation process.

o    EFFLUENT CHARACTERISTICS

                                                             Before Treatment              After Treatment

Flow m³/day                                               450                                         450

pH                                                                                4.0 to 4.5                               7.0 to 7.8

BOD mg/l                                                    45,000 to 50,000                 6,000 to 8,000

COD mg/l                                                    80,000 to 1000,000            25,000 to 35,000

o    PERFORMANCE

Reduction of BOD %                                                                                80 to 85 %

Reduction of COD %                                                                                65 to 70 %

Biogas Production Nm³/day                                                                    12,300

Specific Biogas Production Nm³/kg of COD degraded                      0.4 to 0.5

% of methane in biogas                                                                           60 to 65 %

o    ECONOMICS

Calorific value of biogas                                                                          6000 Kcal/ Nm³

Calorific Value of Coal                                                                            4000 Kcal/Kg

Coal equivalent of Biogas per day                                                        18.45 tonnes

Cost of Coal at Rs 1800 per tonne                                                        Rs   33,210 pd

Annual fuel savings                                                                                  Rs   99.63 lacs

Capital cost of plant                                                                                 Rs   230 lacs

Interest at 15 % on 75 % of the capital cost**                                   Rs   26,73,750

Maintenance costs                                                                                    Rs   2,00,000

Staff Salary                                                                                                                Rs   1,50,000

Power 40 KW at Rs 2/- per unit                                                              Rs   5,76,000

Total Annual Cost                                                                                     Rs   36,00,000

Net Savings per year                                                                                 Rs   99.36 – 36

                                                                                                                      = Rs   63.63 lacs

Total Pay back period                                                                              =  230 / 63.63

                                                                                                                      =  3 to 4 years.

(b)   COMPOSTING   In this process, press mud generated from sugar mill is utilised to produce compost by mixing distillery effluent. Both anaerobic and aerobic composting systems are practiced. In some plants composting with treated effluent treated through bio-methanation plant is also practiced. This system can achieve zero effluent if the press mud quantity matches with the effluent generated.

·         ECONOMICS OF BIOEARTH COMPOSTING

Capacity of the Distillery                                                                   50 KLPD

Number of working days in a year

                                In the Distillery                                                                     300

                                In the Composting Plant                                                    275

Generated spentwash                                                                         350 KLPD (Biostil Plant)

Solid content in spentwash                                                                                17 %

Spentwash to Press mud Ratio                                                         2.5 KL : 1 MT

Man Power Required                                                                          50

Culture Requirement                                                                          31.5 MT/annum

Press mud requirement                                                                       43,000 MT/ annum

Cost of Culture                                                                                    Rs   1.75 lakhs per MT

Cost of Press mud                                                                               Rs   12 per MT

Man Power cost                                                                                   Rs   50 per day

Capital Cost                                                                         Rs   175 lakhs (excluding land)

Land Requirement                                                                              25 acres

Bio Earth Production                                                                          38,000 MT per year

Annual Maintenance Costs                                                               1.5 % of equipment costs

% Costs of Funds                                                                                                20 % per annum

·         OPERATION COSTS

Cost of Culture                                                                                    55.13 lakhs

Average Cost of Funds                                                                       17.5 lakhs

Cost of Diesel                                                                                       11.32 lakhs

Cost of Press mud                                                                               5.16 lakhs

Cost of Transportation of Press mud                                              0.00

Annual Man Power Cost                                                                    6.88 lakhs

Depreciation (@ 10 %)                                                                       15.00 lakhs

Maintenance                                                                                        2.25 lakhs

Annual Operational Cost of Compost Plant                                  113.24 lakhs

Cost of One Metric Tonne of Bioearth                           =Annual Operational cost of plant

 

    Compost Produced in MT

=              11324000
38000

                                                                                                                =              Rs  298.00 per MT

·         NET COST/BENEFIT FOR DIFFERENT SELLING PRICES OF COMPOST

                        SP of Bioearth                                    Net Cost / Benefit

in Rs                                                                in Rs

                        0                                                              -11324000.00

                        100.00                                                     -7524000.00

                        200.00                                                     -3724000.00

                        298.00                                                        0.00

                        350.00                                                      1976000.00

                        400.00                                                      3876000.00

                        500.00                                                      7676000.00

Net annual cost/benefit of Compost                       =              Sales value of 38000 MT of compost less annual operating costs

·         COMPUTATION OF PAY BACK PERIOD

1.     SP of Bioearth                                      -               Rs 250.00

                        Initial cash outflow                             -               Rs 17500000.00

                        Net annual cash inflow                      -               Rs 1738000.00

                        Pay Back Period                                  -               10.06 Years (17500000/1738000.00)

2.     SP of Bioearth                                      -               Rs 350.00

                        Initial cash outflow                             -               Rs 17500000.00

                        Net annual cash inflow                      -               Rs 5226000.00

                        Pay Back Period                                  -               3.34 Years (17500000.00/5226000.00)

3.     SP of Bioearth                                      -               Rs 500.00

                        Initial cash outflow                             -               Rs 17500000.00

                        Net annual cash inflow                      -               Rs 10926000.00

                        Pay Back Period                                  -               1.6 Years (17500000.00/10926000.00)

(c)           POTASH RECOVERY   It is done by incinerating the distillery spent wash.  In this process, the raw distillery spent wash is first neutralized with lime and filtered. This is further concentrated to about 60% solids in multiple-effect forcer circulation evaporators. Now this thick liquor from the evaporator is burnt in an incinerator and is converted into ash. The dry solids of the spent wash in the form of coke in the incinerator has an average calorific value of 2 Kcal/kg, which is sufficient for supporting self-combustion of the thick liquor in the incinerator. The resulting ash is found to contain about 37% of potash as potassium oxide on an average. This ash is further leached with water to dissolve the potassium salts. Then it is neutralized with sulphuric acid and is evaporated. The potassium salts are crystallized in a crystal1izer. The crystallized mixed potassium salt contains 73.5% of potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄) 16.5% potassium chloride (KCl) and 5% of sodium salts.  It is estimated that a distillery dis­charging about 300 m³ of spent wash per day could recover 3 tonnes of Potassium as Potassium oxide or about 5.34 tonnes of Potassium sulphate and 1.2 tonnes of Potassium chloride per day.  This potassium is used as a fertilizer.

(d)        DISTILLERY WASTEWATER UTILISATION IN AGRICULTURE    Being very rich in organic matters, the utilisation of distil­lery effluents in agricultural fields creates organic fertilization in the soil which raises the pH of the soil, increases availability of certain nutrients and capability to retain water and also improves the physical structure of soil. Mostly the distillery wastewaters are used for pre-sowing irrigation. The post-harvest fields are filled with distill­ery effluents. After 15-20 days, when the surface is almost dried, the fields are tilled and the crops are sown and subse­quent irrigation is given with fresh water. However, the effluent is diluted 2-3 times before application on crops. Apparently, the irrigation with distillery wastewater seems to be an attractive agricultural practice which not only augments crop yield but also provides a plausible solution for the land disposal of the effluents. One cubic metre of methanated effluent contains nearly 5 kg of potassium, 300 grams of nitrogen and 20 grams of phosphorus. If one centimetre of post methanation effluent is applied on one hectare of agricultural land annually, it will yield nearly 600 kg of potassium, 360 kg of calcium, 100 kg of sulphates, 28 kg of nitrogen and 2 kg of phosphates. The distillery effluent contains 0.6 to 21.5 percent potash as KO, 0.1 to 1.0 percent phosphorus as PO and 0.01 to 1.5 percent Nitrogen as N₂. The irrigational and manorial potential of distillery wastewaters is given below:

i)              Total Volume available in Million m³ /annum                                :                       6.87

ii)             Nutrients Contribution Potential (tonnes/annum)                                            :N            -               69380

                                                                                                                                                PO           -               11335

KO          -               27480

·         ECONOMICAL ASPECTS

When the distillery effluents are used for irrigation in fallow lands, the microbes present in it transform the lands into fertile ones, giving high yields of paddy and sugarcane. Farmers could save nitrogenous fertilisers worth Rs 1335 crores per annum if at least 200 distilleries of out country recycled their wastes to the agricultural fields. However, it is predicted that the utilisation of distillery effluent for irrigation of land would make avail­able nitrogen, phosphorous and potash valued at about Rs 500 crores each year. The added advantage of this application would be that these fertilisers would be available to soil in organic form. As the secondary and tertiary systems for the treatment of distillery effluent are highly energy intensive and according to the estimates of the Union Ministry of Energy a total con­nected load of 200 M.W. would be required to energising these systems if 246 distilleries endeavour to reduce the BOD level of effluent to the extent possible. The generation of the desired energy would need an installed load of 350 M.W. which would require capital investment of the order of about Rs 1400 crores. So it will be an attractive practice to utilise the distillery effluents for ferti-irrigation of land after primary treat­ment, as land is available in abundance around the distiller­ies which are located in the sugarcane belts.

RECOMMENDATIONS

7.            Reviewing the magnitude of pollution potential of distillery wastewaters and the experiences gained  over years  on recovery of residues and treatment of wastewater the following recommendations are made :-

·         In-plant control measures for conservation and reuse of water and good house-keeping for prevention of spillage and leakages should be the prerequisite.

·         For recovery from the treatment of distillery spentwash, depending on the availability and cost of land in a particular area, simple treatment in anaerobic lagoon to generate biogas followed by treatment in aerated lagoon or oxidation ditch may be considered. Where the avail­ability and cost of land are the main constraints, activated sludge type of aeration treatment in a deep oxidation ditch would be more economical than the conventional or extended aeration sludge process.

·         For the treatment of distillery spent wash, removal and/or recovery of yeast should be prerequisite to reduce the load and eliminate certain undue problems in the waste treatment/recovery plants. This recovered yeast can be utilised as a good cattle feed. Recovery of spent grains and yeast and their utilisation as animal feed and feed supplement might be encouraged not only for reducing the pollution load form the wastewaters but also in providing for a reasonable return on their capital investment of the industry.

·         Where the availability of land is a severe constraint, evaporation and incineration of distillery spent wash to recover potash would appear to be the only choice. In spite of high capital investment required for such type of plants, heat recovery would defray significantly the organisation and maintenance costs and contribute towards conservation of energy.

·         In the countries like ours, where indigenous sources of potash are scarce or not available, recovery of potash from crude ash by evaporation and incineration of spent wash would appear to be an economically attractive alternative. If heat recovery is simultaneously used, the pay back period of the plant can be substantially reduced.

·         Anaerobic digestion of spent wash in a closed digester followed by its treatment under an activated sludge process, especially in an oxidation ditch to reduce costs, might be adopted as the most cost-effective system for the distilleries which are located away from sugar factories. Moreover, the treated effluent can be conveniently used for irrigation of cane fields or other crop lands, subsequently.

·         Biogas generated from the distillery effluents, can be effectively utilized in production plant boilers thus saving about 50 to 60 percent fuel/steam. The treated effluent having almost all the potash retained in it may be utilised for irrigation purposes.

·         The utilisation of the distillery effluent in agricul­tural fields will not only enrich these further with essential plant nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous and potash but also compensate the expenditure on fertilizers for crop growth. This practice will result in revenue generation and further lead to offsetting the costs substantially.

·         Similarly spentwash utilization in bioearth composting, where adequate land is available, being a simple process and not involving any heavy machinery is also one of the cost effective methods of disposal. Moreover it is feasible alternative for utilization of treated effluent; as the same generates revenue thus offsetting the costs and further leading to reduction in pay back period.

CONCLUSION

8.             One of the most important environmental problems faced by the world is management of wastes.
Now-a-days emphasis is laid on waste minimization and revenue generation through byproduct recovery. Pollution prevention focuses on preventing the generation of wastes, while waste minimization refers to reducing the volume or toxicity of hazardous wastes by water recycling and reuse, and process modifications and the byproduct recovery as a fall out of manufacturing process creates ample scope for revenue generation thereby offsetting the costs substantially.

9.             The cost of effluent treatment in distilleries is likely to be compensated substantially by availability of methane gas. Effluent application will reduce the nutrient requirement through fertilisers. However, high salt load, mainly potassium and sulphur, into the soil system may hamper the sustained crop yields due to continued long-term application of effluents. Therefore the effect on crop productivity has to be visualised on long-term and sustainable basis. Application of post methanation effluent suitably diluted according to crop requirements and soil conditions seems to be viable alternative. If all the distilleries present in India resort to biomethanation, then approximately 2.0 million cubic metres of biogas shall be generated per day, with a calorific value of approximately 5000 Kcal/m. This is equivalent to saving of 2240 tonnes of coal per day, in turn avoiding CO of about 3100  tonnes per day.

10.          The present study coupled with the corresponding techno market survey has been aimed at reviewing the existing technological status of treatment and disposal of distillery spentwash in our country and comparing with that of the contemporary international technologies, thus identifying the gaps in the technologies and suggesting an action plan for overcoming these. Some relative issues in the areas of quality criteria with respect to gaps in technologies and financial implication in implementing the technological options, has been highlighted in this study. It has to be stressed that recovery from the distillery effluents is a better way to reduce the cost of wastewater treatment for decreasing its pollution level which is actually a very costly affair. So this is a matter great importance for the Indian distilleries and breweries. Various recommendations are given for the establishment of recovery plants in India. It has also been elucidated during the study that several technological options that are available in our country need to be exploited to the maximum so that, this will help to control the pollution created by the distillery wastewaters and also enable to derive by-products which are commercially beneficial.

4 Things Your Team Needs to Know BEFORE They Start a Project

I saw a funny sign the other day that read, “For Good Health, Wash Your Hands.” It wasn’t so much the common sense hygiene tip that struck me as funny, as much as it was where it was located, above a waste basket in a client’s restroom. And there wasn’t anything unusual about that, either, except for the fact the basket was tucked away in a dark corner of the restroom. Essentially, the only way you would see that sign would be AFTER you already washed your hands. Beyond that, if you don’t even use a towel (as many don’t) or the dispenser is empty, there’d be no reason to even go to the waste basket at all.  More or less, the message is there to comfort the most fastidious among us, someone who has actually taken the time to wash and dry their hands.

If people do indeed need a reminder to wash their hands, the sign really needs to be in a better location. Maybe on the door as people walk in, in the stall itself, or at the very least, hung more conspicuously for everyone to see. It has to do with timing more than anything; clearly, the message is meant to be read before someone washes their hands or leaves the restroom.

It got me to thinking about the timing of our directions and feedback to project teams. How many obvious tasks or expected behaviors do we neglect to properly inform our teams of? Do we give team members directions and feedback at the right time? Are reminders being totally overlooked and negatively impacting the project because they are given too late or not at all?

Below are some of the reminders, instructions, or direction we would want to provide sooner rather than later:

1. Where and How to Report Time

Reporting time against a project is critically important for a number of reasons, the first of which is the impact it has on billing. Companies that bill on a Time and Materials basis need to account for every hour billed against a project to increase their revenue. Accurate time reporting is also important in understanding areas where efficiencies can be introduced, identifying areas where bottlenecks occur, providing for more accurate estimates for the next project, and tracking employee performance and utilization.

When is the right time to make sure your project team knows when and how to report their time? Certainly not at the end of the project; I’ve seen it happen way too many times. Days, weeks, and sometimes months will go by without a stitch of time being reported against a project. Then there’s a last minute scramble to gather everyone’s time.

Nobody can remember what they did yesterday, let alone three weeks ago. People jump into Outlook to see what meetings they attended, what emails they sent, and what conversations they had in a feeble effort to cobble together a less-than-accurate record of how they spent their time.

Tell your team members how and when to report their time at the beginning of a project. This is especially important if it’s a new team that hasn’t worked with you before. They need to understand that you require time entered AT THE MOST on a daily basis, if not more often throughout the day. This is really the only way there can be any semblance of accuracy. It also prevents the mad scramble of inaccurate (or even false) time reporting at the end of the project. This is no good for either the client or the company.

Make sure everyone has the right access to report their time as well. They should have no problem logging into the system and knowing where to look to report their time.

2. When and How to Raise an Issue

Things are not always going to go perfectly smooth on a project, so it’s important to know as early as possible if something is veering off track. Your team should know, prior to the project starting, how important it is to raise issues. How and when do you want your team to bring issues to your attention? Perhaps you have a weekly status meeting designated as the time and place to bring something up. Or, you may prefer that at the first wind of something going off track somebody bring it to your attention; this would allow you time to monitor the situation closely and make any necessary adjustments sooner rather than later.

Make sure your team understands your preferences, as well as how you like to discuss any issues that arise. It might be that you want an email, or are sufficed with a quick conversation in the hallway in order to keep the information flowing before anything more serious occurs.

3. When and How to Deliver Bad News

Despite the best of intentions and efforts, risks may turn into issues and derail a project. A missed deadline, budget overrun, or technical problem could occur; in other words, just plain old bad news. Make sure your team knows the best way to deliver bad news before it happens.

When something does goes wrong, I’ve seen many people take delight with an almost “I told you so” response to the situation. They can’t wait to point out error, and offer no suggestions or options to get things fixed or back on track again.

Make sure your team knows your expectations before bad news occurs on project. Ensure they come with options and alternatives to fix the issue.

4. What to Say to a Client

It may be necessary at times for our resources to meet with a client on the phone or face to face. This is not a conversation that should be taken lightly. You may be used to working with clients all day long. You understand the fine art of communicating with clients, setting expectations, resetting priorities and generally keeping everyone on the same page. Your project team members may not have this same experience.

They may be accustomed to the rough and tumble, say-what’s-on-your-mind environment of the office, and are comfortable with their peers and colleagues. They may throw around words like can’t, won’t, don’t, shouldn’t and a host of other negative, black-and-white phrases among themselves that, if used with a client, can quickly shut down the interaction and forward momentum.

Make sure your team understands there are more appealing, constructive and eloquent ways to say the exact same thing to a client BEFORE they meet with the client. I’ve seen too many train wrecks caused by uninformed team members who feel they just have to open their mouth to set the record straight with the client. Spend some time teaching them what those more appropriate phrases and topics are, or develop a cheat sheet they can refer to before a client-facing meeting that will refresh their memories.  Also, don’t be afraid to let them know they should focus on their technical areas of expertise while you focus on the client relationship management piece.

Timing is everything. Just like the sign in the restroom that someone would see only AFTER they washed their hands, make sure your team knows what you expect of them before a project begins and your projects will be that much more successful.

Lets slove this problem

There’s a funny saying circulating with marketers right now on the current state of Big Data:

“Big Data is like teenage sex: everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it.”

Gartner recently released a report that 64% of companies are deploying or planning to deploy a Big Data project, yet 56% struggle to know how to get value from their data. As Matt Asay wrote about the Gartner study, “it seems that they’ve allowed the hype around Big Data to both motivate them to start but also confuse them as to where they should go.”

The promise of Big Data is significant and many predict that 2014 will be a breakthrough year for Big Data marketing. Yet, I’ve seen many companies struggle with Small Data, let alone Big Data.

Big Data doesn’t replace Big Ideas. It’s what you do with the data that matters. As Big Data matures and starts to deliver on its promise, big marketing ideas to leverage the power of those Big Data insights will be needed more than ever.

I’d love to hear some of your favorite case studies on leveraging Big Data in marketing.

Five Idea About Money Management

Even though the focus of my posts has been on consciousness, there's no escaping the link between success and money. Few people would consider themselves a success if they had little or no money (even though figures like Jesus, Buddha, and Socrates ventured very different ideas on the subject). The ability to manage money, allocate assets, and increase wealth plays a major role in the economy, as well as the lives of each person. Let me deal with the subject from the perspective of consciousness by offering five ideas that will feel quite new to anyone who approaches money strictly from a naked desire to make as much as possible or from the opposite desire, to escape debt and impoverishment.

#1 Money reflects who you are. It mirrors your psychological makeup.

#2 The highest use of money is to increase happiness.

#3 The circulation of money is a symbol for the circulation of ideas.

#4 To be free of money woes, expands your consciousness.

#5 Money equals success if you can handle the previous four ideas.

I'll fill in each idea a little to make clear why it's important.

#1 Money reflects who you are. It mirrors your psychological makeup.

The first idea is a core truth, and many branches grow from it. It says that money is never truly objective. The psyche, with its abundance of fears, wishes, hopes, and desires, is always coloring how each of us views money, to the extent that the great economist John Maynard Keynes considered all markets to be psychological in nature. What you think and believe will be automatically reflected in how you manage your money. There are hoarders who cannot tolerate the slightest risk, gamblers who can never save their winnings, along with free spenders, philanthropists, and so on.

Since money reflects the psyche, including its unconscious drives, people are secretive about their money in order to hide themselves. Few of us want to be entirely seen or known by others, and at a deeper level we are afraid to know ourselves completely. Yet the more you can accept yourself, the easier it will be to deal with money and the less anxious it will make you. There’s no objective formula that works for everyone. Even so, you need to spend enough time to know yourself that you find a formula that works for you, i.e., that allows you to not obsess over money, fear its loss, or take risks you cannot tolerate. Don't assume that your ability to manage money is the same as the people around you, and don't try to live up to the life story of some billionaire. The path to money, if that's the path you want to walk, begins inside.

#2 The highest use of money is to increase happiness.

The psyche is complicated, and once you know yourself, there is still room for confusion, because money has to be turned into action. Which part of your mind should you follow, the emotional or rational? Is greed something to ignore or follow? Should you mainly focus on earning, saving, or investing? It takes years of experience to untangle these issues - and many more, besides - but the most helpful guide is to use your money in the service of being happy. Rich but miserable is no way to spend your days, either now or after you retire. What will make you happy? Long-term fulfillment is built on short-term fulfillment. In other words, to be happy in the future, pay attention to your happiness today.

Does this mean that all those rich people who endured massive stress, who obsessed over building wealth, who cut corners and schemed, etc. were wrong in their approach? "Wrong" isn't the right term. The real issue is whether stress, greed, obsession, and amorality are enemies of happiness. One book on the secret to becoming a millionaire found that the common factor is simple: Be a stingy bastard. No one has ever written a book calling this the formula for happiness.

#3 The circulation of money is a symbol for the circulation of ideas.

The usual framework for managing money uses terms like earning, spending, investing, etc., which is an objective vocabulary. Since there is no true objectivity in regards to money, there needs to be an alternative vocabulary that hits closer to the truth. Your life, like everyone else's, is rooted in sensations, feelings, images, and thoughts - the contents of your mind, in short. The stuff of the mind makes life better when it is dynamic, open, free of fear, and creative. The stuff of the mind makes life worse when it is rigid, closed, stuck, and fearful.

Therefore, let your money reflect the mind's ability to make life better. Money circulates around ideas because money symbolizes ideas (as well as beliefs, hopes, wishes, and fears). As much as society worships money, it gets misused when two of the mind's most primitive drives - fear and greed - are placed in charge. This happens all too often, unfortunately, as front-page stories about Wall Street constantly inform us. Look at how your own mind works, and favor those aspects that make your life more dynamic and creative. Then your management of money will follow where your mind wants to go.

#4 To be free of money woes, expand your consciousness.

Life is like water. It stagnates if it doesn't flow. If your mind is tight, worried, and stuck on the same themes year after year, it will stagnate, and so will your money. There are rich people who can't find happiness in their wealth because they haven't learned how to connect it with personal growth. But if you expand your awareness, money becomes the representation of how you are evolving. This follows from the core idea that your money reflects who you are.

As your mind expands, you stop holding on to the conventional labels that we all use to define ourselves. Rich and poor are two such labels, and millions of people obsess over them, just as they obsess over labels of gender, nationality, religion, and so on. At its best, money mirrors a mind that is freeing itself from labels. In that way, instead of being at the root of all evils - anxiety being the primary evil - money can help you feel free, which is the ultimate good.

#5 Money equals success if you can handle the previous four ideas.

The goal at the beginning of this post was to link money and success in a better way than simply adding up your bank account. By absorbing the previous four ideas, success comes to fruition. This isn't a moral argument. Money is a mirror, and mirrors are neutral. They show you what is. The one advantage that money has over a bathroom mirror is that is magnifies what is. This becomes a source of misery if your money magnifies greed, insecurity, and egotism. It's a source of satisfaction if your money magnifies your highest aspirations and best intent.

I'd call this the dividing line between success and failure, not the amount of money you earn or even how much you give away. In a material world, the most important things - purpose and meaning - are immaterial. Instead of standing for materialism itself, money can stand for the invisible inner world on which every life is built.

DRT & SARFAESI Act & the Law: RBI guidelines & SARFAESI proceedings?

DRT & SARFAESI Act & the Law: RBI guidelines & SARFAESI proceedings?: It is very clear that the Banks should follow RBI guidelines on Asset-Classification before classifying any loan account as ‘Non-performi...

ELSS Funds

what are they, how you save taxes, and why invest in them?

Tax planning may seem like a tedious exercise requiring lot of efforts that may make an ordinary investor nervous at the first glance. Equity Linked Savings Scheme (ELSS) offers a simple way to get tax benefits and at the same time get an opportunity to gain from the potential of Indian equity markets.

What is ELSS?

Simply put, ELSS is a type of diversified equity mutual fund which is qualified for tax exemption under section 80C of the Income Tax Act, and offers the twin-advantage of capital appreciation and tax benefits. It comes with a lock-in period of three years.

Why should one invest in an ELSS?

ELSS funds are one of the best avenues to save tax under Section 80C. This is because along with the tax deduction, the investor also gets the potential upside of investing in the equity markets. Also, no tax is levied on the long-term capital gains from these funds. Moreover, compared to other tax saving options, ELSS has the shortest lock-in period of three years.

BEYOND TAX SAVING

Parameter	PPF	NSC	ELSS
Tenure	15 years	6 years	3 years
Returns	(Compounded Annually) 8.80 % ^	(Compounded half-yearly) 8.60 to 8.90 % ^	Not assured dividends/ returns
Minimum investments	Rs.500	Rs.100	Rs.500
Maximum investments	Rs.100,000	No limit*	No limit*
Amount eligible for deduction under Section 80C	Rs.100,000	Rs 1,00,000	Rs 1,00,000
Taxation for interest	Tax free	Taxable	Dividends and capital gain tax free
Safety/ Rating	Highest	Highest	High Risk

* There is no upper limit on investments. However, investments of only upto Rs.100,000 per year are allowed to be claimed as deductions under Section 80C of IT Act.

SHORT Lock-in

Instrument	Lock-in Period
ELSS	3 Years from the date of allotment of the respective Units
Bank Fixed Deposit	5 Years
PO Time Deposit	5 Years
NSC	6 years
PPF	15 Years (Partial withdrawal after 6 years)

Source: Banks and Post Office

Pros and Cons

Like all investment options; ELSS too come with its share of advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages of ELSS over NSC and PPF

• Main advantage of ELSS is its short lock-in period. Maturity period of NSC is 6 years and PPF is 15 years.
• Since it is an equity linked scheme earning potential is high.
• Investor can opt for dividend option and get some gains during the lock-in period
• Investor can opt for Systematic Investment Plan

Disadvantages of ELSS

• Risk factor is very high compared to NSC and PPF

TAX ADVANTAGE

Particulars	Without ELSS/ 80C Tax Saving Investment	With ELSS / 80C Tax Saving Investment
Gross Total Income	Rs.7,50,000	Rs.7,50,000
Exemption Under Section 80C	Nil	Rs.1,00,000
Total Income	Rs.7,50,000	Rs.6,50,000
Tax on Total Income	Rs.80,000	Rs.60,000
Tax saved on Investment	Nil	Rs.20,000

Illustration of Tax exemption for a male person less than 60 years in receipt of salary income for the assessment year 2013-14 (FY 2012-2013)

Suitability

It is suitable for all types of investors who are not risk averse and need to invest in tax planning instruments. Though there is no age to get started on an ELSS, it is good investment to have for those who are just starting their careers as it can help them shed their inhibition about investing in equities through mutual funds in a big way.

^Source: http://finmin.nic.in, Rates incorporates compounding wherever applicable.
Disclaimer: The comparison of ELSS Vs other tax savings instrument has been given for the purpose of the general information only. Investment in ELSS carry high risk and any investment decision needs to be taken only after consulting the Tax Consultant or Financial Advisor.

"Y" investors don't want you to pitch ??

It have observed some common mistakes that most of the entrepreneurs make. listing down some of the things that really "turn-off" most of the investors.

•  Too much of text: Avoid text heavy presentations. Keep them short, crisp and only write what is needed. The moment you have lot of text, the person viewing the presentation starts reading the text and his mind stops listening to what your pitching. The power point slide is a tool to only show the "Power Points"

•  Irrelevant visual elements: Some people do follow the above statement and to replace text use visual elements. But then they use irrelevant images, charts which don't really add enough content value. Add something like a flow-chart of process, image of prototype developed, etc.

• Missing the "How" question: Most of plans often say: We target to a yearly run rate of $ 2 Cr. in second year of our operations or We shall acquire ABC number of users in coming years. Few talk of how they will reach to a yearly run rate of $  2 Cr or acquire those ABC users.
• One could say, for an e-comm company: I plan to increase by average ticket size to $ 100 from current $ 600 and increase my orders/week to 20 from current 15, resulting in a yearly run rate of $ 2 Cr. 
• Again, define how you would increase your ticket size and order/day. When you do this, investors get to know that you understand the key growth drivers of your business.
• 
  
• 5) No Competition: Its difficult to not have competition. Yes there might not be a true competition, but there always is possible competition. Try and show investors that you have studied each competitor (true and possible) and then designed your differentiated product. Avoid saying, "We have no competition"
• 
  
• Scary Ask and Valuation: Be realistic in terms of your financial ask and valuation. Don't ask something that is beyond a fund's focus/ticket size. Also show how the money is going to be used. Investors know how much money is needed at each stage.
• Regarding valuation, its an pure art of brain . Don't scare an investor by putting a $5 million valuation for a company that has not made its initial revenue. An entrepreneur who has raised money, or an investor, mentor will be better to guide on valuation.