Water sector braces for likely slowdown
27 December 2024

Geopolitical tensions, climate change and higher-than-average population growth have exacerbated the water demand and supply gap across the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region, home to some of the world’s most water-stressed countries.
For example, Jordan, where available water per capita is equivalent to only 12% of the absolute water scarcity level, hosts over 700,000 refugees fleeing wars and conflicts in neighbouring countries.
Most regional governments have developed and started to implement water strategies aimed at narrowing this gap. Subsidies are being phased out, environmental campaigns are being developed and digital solutions are being deployed in order to manage demand and improve efficiency.
Expanding desalination and treatment capacity, increasing treated sewage effluent (TSE) reuse, boosting reservoir capacity and building more efficient transmission and distribution networks are key levers used to improve supply.
Strong spending
These efforts have prompted significant capital spending on more energy-efficient water production, distribution and storage facilities, typically in partnership with private investors, particularly among the more affluent states.
According to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the Mena region awarded $17bn of project contracts across the water desalination, treatment, transmission and distribution, storage and district cooling subsectors in the first nine months of 2024.
This figure represents about 72% of the contracts awarded in 2023 and is slightly above the average value of annual contract awards in the preceding five years.
With only a few more packages expected to be awarded before the end of the year, 2024 looks set to be one of the best years so far in terms of water project activity, even if it fails to match the record value of contracts awarded in 2023, which reached almost $24bn.
In 2024, Saudi gigaproject developer Neom set the pace in January by awarding a $4.7bn contract to build dams at the Trojena Mountain Resort in Tabuk to Italian contractor WeBuild.
The contract covers the construction of three dams that will form a freshwater lake for the Trojena ski resort. The main dam will have a height of 145 metres and will be 475 metres long at its crest. It will be built using 2.7 million cubic metres of roller compact concrete.
While this project does not necessarily belong to the band of solutions that aim to narrow the water supply and demand gap, the overall development is part of Saudi Arabia’s drive to boost tourism and diversify its economy away from oil.
Meanwhile, 2024 also saw the award by UAE northern emirate utility Sharjah Electricity, Water & Gas Authority of the contract to develop its first independent water project (IWP), the 400,000 cubic-metres-a-day facility in Hamriyah, to Saudi utility developer Acwa Power, the contract’s sole bidder.
In May, Saudi Arabia’s National Water Company announced that it had completed the award of 10 contracts under the first phase of its privatisation programme. Each rehabilitate, operate and transfer contract involves the retrofitting or expansion of existing sewage treatment plants and associated network, and their long-term operation and management. The facilities are expected to deliver water at the TSE level for irrigation reuse.
On the greenfield sewage treatment front, Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) awarded a $400m contract to develop the Al-Haer independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) project to a team comprising the local Miahona Company and Belgium’s Besix. The facility is the largest and first to be tendered under the third round of the water offtaker’s ISTP procurement programme.
In September, Chennai-headquartered VA Tech Wabag confirmed it had won a $317m contract to build the Ras Al-Khair seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) facility in Saudi Arabia using an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model. The project client is Saudi Water Authority (SWA), formerly Saline Water Conversion Corporation.
In Oman, Nama Water Services awarded two water distribution network packages, worth a combined $600m, catering to Al-Dhahirah Governorate.
Jordan also appointed a team comprising Paris-based Meridiam, Suez and Vinci Construction Grands Projets, along with Egypt’s Orascom Construction, for the contract to develop the Aqaba-Amman water conveyance and desalination scheme. It is the country’s largest infrastructure project to date and the first phase is valued at an estimated $2bn-$3bn.
The project is crucial to addressing Jordan’s severe water shortage problem, piping desalinated water over 445 kilometres from the southern Red Sea coast to the country’s northern regions. The consortium is talking to lenders and aims to reach financial close for the project in 2025.
Slower momentum
Despite 2024 being a good year for contract awards, it fell short of the expectation built over the past few years, when the region’s largest economies began to execute their long-term water strategies.
For example, in Saudi Arabia, the years-long restructuring of the domestic water sector took a significant turn in 2024, with Water Transmission Company (WTCO), the kingdom’s licensed desalinated water transmission operator, gaining a broader portfolio of projects. As a result, the mandate to procure upcoming water transmission pipelines has been transferred to WTCO from SWPC.
The slower pace of IWP contract awards in Saudi Arabia was somewhat offset by a slew of tenders from SWA. The authority received bids for the EPC contracts to build four SWRO facilities in 2024, although as of November it had only managed to award one.
Earlier in 2024, Saudi gigaproject developer Neom also shelved a project to develop a zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) SWRO plant.
“The year may not have been as strong as 2023, but it is still a good year,” says Robert Bryniak, CEO of Dubai-based Golden Sands Management (Marketing) Consulting. “Some projects have been delayed or cancelled – for instance a few in Saudi Arabia – but all in all [2024 has been] a good year for the water business.”
Bryniak adds that Neom’s ZLD scheme is one of the year’s shelved projects that he would like to see revived in the future.
Beyond the GCC states, Morocco and Egypt are endeavouring to move their planned SWRO projects into the tendering phase.
In Morocco, Office National de L’Electricite et de L’Eue Potable (Onee) extended the review of its second IWP in Nador while waiting for its first IWP in Casablanca to reach financial close.
The first batch of renewable energy- powered desalination plants in Egypt has yet to reach the proposals stage despite the Sovereign Fund of Egypt having completed the bid prequalification process in 2023.

Potential contract awards
According to data from MEED Projects, an estimated $34bn-worth of water projects are in the tendering stage across the Mena region. A further $40bn-worth is in the prequalification stage and $57bn is in the design and study phases.
The $22bn Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnels (DSST) scheme stands out among the upcoming projects due to its scale, as well as for the chosen procurement approach.
The project aims to convert Dubai’s existing sewerage network from a pumped system to a gravity system by decommissioning the existing pump stations and providing a sustainable and reliable service that is fit for the future.
In April, Dubai Municipality launched the procurement process for the DSST project, which is to be developed as a public-private partnership (PPP).
While a dose of pessimism persists over the chosen PPP model – in part due to the project’s scale and strong civil works orientation, and Dubai’s dismal track record in procuring PPP schemes outside the utility sector – the project has managed to attract strong interest from EPC contractors, as well as from potential investors and sponsors.
Some of those that have sought to prequalify as investors, such as Begium’s Besix, Beijing-headquartered China Railway Construction Corporation and South Korea’s Samsung C&T, have previously been prequalified as EPC contractors for the DSST project, which suggests that the preferred approach of prequalifying EPCs ahead of investors could offer advantages.
In Saudi Arabia, WTCO, SWA, SWPC and Neom’s utility subsidiary Enowa are each expected to let several contracts in 2025, while Bahrain and Abu Dhabi could award one IWP contract each.
However, a robust overall pipeline does not necessarily guarantee that 2025 will resemble the upward trajectory that the sector has seen in the past two years.
“This year could be a turning point for the water industry throughout Mena,” says Bryniak, alluding to the possibility that, come January, the foreign and climate policies of the new occupant of the White House could affect the trend of water production capacity buildout in the Mena region.
Bryniak says that if US President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his promises, then we may be in store for, among other events, lower energy prices as the US drills more oil; a dampening of world trade as the US places tariffs on imports, especially on Chinese goods and services; less focus on the environment; and, generally, a more isolationist America.
“In my view, much depends on how much oil prices fall,” he continues.
“A significant drop in oil prices could result in cut-backs in a lot of development projects, and this, in turn, will adversely impact water demand and the overall build programme.”
However, the impact will not be uniform across asset types and procurement models, Bryniak notes. He expects water PPP projects to continue to grow, especially if capital availability is reduced by lower oil prices, as this is one way to preserve capital for use in other areas.
“I do not see any reason for tariffs to fall further in 2025. Tariffs, in my view, will remain roughly where they are now or increase slightly,” adds Bryniak.
However, the executive says that EPC contracts will likely have “a higher opportunity cost”, so there might be a reduced focus on this type of procurement model.
He concludes: “To the extent that development projects get trimmed down due to less capital being available as a result of significantly lower oil prices, then water procurers and other developers will likely scale back their projects.”
Exclusive from Meed
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Saudi pre-budget leans on borrowing to fund projects2 October 2026
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QatarEnergy gives North Field West topside bidders more time2 October 2026

QatarEnergy has granted contractors more time to prepare bids for a tender covering the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of large platforms for the North Field gas field in Qatari waters.
Contractors now have until 12 October to submit technical bids for the project, according to sources. Commercial bids are currently due on 10 November.
The following contractors, among others, are understood to be bidding for the North Field West (NFW) production deck modules (PDMs) tender:
- China Offshore Oil Engineering Company (China)
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The core scope comprises the EPCI of four PDMs and associated structures. The PDMs will increase gas production from North Field reservoirs and provide additional gas feedstock for the NFW liquefied natural gas (LNG) development.
The tender, issued earlier this year, forms part of the wider NFW project, the third and final phase of the state enterprise’s North Field LNG expansion programme.
The previous deadlines for technical bids were 30 August, 15 September and 28 September, while commercial bids were previously due on 25 October, as MEED reported.
Before issuing the PDMs tender, QatarEnergy awarded US firm McDermott a contract for the EPCI of four offshore jackets that will also support gas feedstock supply for the NFW LNG project. The contract is estimated to be worth about $200m, MEED reported in January.
North Field LNG expansion
QatarEnergy is advancing the three phases of its estimated $40bn North Field LNG expansion project. EPC works on all three projects are progressing.
QatarEnergy is understood to have committed nearly $30bn to the first two phases – North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) – which will lift Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77.5 million tonnes a year (t/y) to 126 million t/y by 2028.
QatarEnergy awarded the main EPC contracts for NFE in 2021. The project was intended to raise LNG output to 110 million t/y by 2025. The $13bn EPC package – covering the EPCI of four LNG trains, each with a capacity of 8 million t/y – was awarded in February 2021 to a consortium of Japan’s Chiyoda and France’s Technip Energies.
In May 2023, QatarEnergy awarded the $10bn main EPC contract for NFS to a consortium of Technip Energies and Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC). The contract includes two LNG trains, each with a capacity of 7.8 million t/y.
Once fully operational, the first two phases are expected to add 48 million t/y of LNG supply to the global market.
QatarEnergy took the final investment decision on NFW earlier this year, awarding an EPC contract estimated at $8bn to a joint venture comprising Technip Energies, CCC and Gulf Asia Contracting in February.
Chiyoda carried out the front-end engineering and design work for the NFW LNG project.
The NFW scope covers the EPC of two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 16 million t/y, as well as associated facilities for gas treatment, natural gas liquids recovery and helium extraction.
In addition to LNG, NFW is expected to produce about 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day of condensate, ethane and liquefied petroleum gas.
With all three phases under EPC execution – and NFE scheduled for commissioning later this year – QatarEnergy is positioning itself to remain one of the world’s largest LNG suppliers in the long term.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20208200/main.jpg -
Egypt implements oil and gas storage projects worth $1.1bn2 October 2026
Egypt is implementing oil and gas storage projects worth a total of £E54bn ($1.1bn), according to a statement released by the country’s cabinet.
Active developments include expanding El-Hamra Petroleum Port in El-Alamein on the Mediterranean coast, as well as building a jet-fuel storage and transport hub at the Badr depot in Cairo.
Other projects include constructing new storage tanks at refinery complexes in Amreya, Alexandria; Assiut; and Cairo.
Over the past 12 years, Egypt has built 84 petroleum storage facilities with a total capacity of 5.2 million tonnes, the cabinet statement said.
Egypt has invested £E42.7bn ($880m) in developing these facilities, with the aim of bolstering domestic energy security.
Completed infrastructure projects include facilities in Sohag (Upper Egypt) and Alexandria.
They also include offshore terminal and storage facilities, a liquid bulk station in Ain Sokhna, and strategic crude oil storage tanks across the country.
Storage facilities have become a strategic priority for Egypt since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February, triggering a regional war that has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The disruption has made imports of hydrocarbon products into Egypt less predictable, increasing the importance of strategic stockpiles.
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Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Bankability key to Saudi PPP pipeline2 October 2026

Saudi Arabia’s National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP) holds structured talks with bidders and lenders before launching transactions to ensure projects in its pipeline are bankable, according to a senior official.
Speaking on a panel at MEED’s Shaping Mega Projects conference in Riyadh on 28 September, Tariq Alghaziri, executive vice-president at the NCP, said the centre carries out market sounding with potential bidders and debt providers, including commercial and Islamic banks, before announcing deals.
“Bankability is a key word for us,” he said. “You can structure the deal in the way you want. You can have whatever technicalities and technologies are required, but is it suitable for the private sector to deliver? That’s the big question.”
Alghaziri said the national privatisation strategy, approved at the end of 2025 and published at the start of 2026, sets the NCP’s targets up to 2030 and outlines its project pipeline. The strategy coincides with the third phase of Vision 2030, which he said is focused on measuring impact after earlier phases established the legal framework and enabled the private sector.
Public-private partnership (PPP) contracts typically run for 25 years and, in some cases, more than 40 years, he said, which makes early engagement essential. “When we launch it, all the bidders, suppliers, EPC contractors, banks and ECAs are on the same page, and then they just have to align on commercial points and not negotiate legal aspects.”
Risk transfer
Jonathan Looker, managing director for Saudi Arabia at UK consultancy Mott MacDonald, said the public and private sectors often perceive risk very differently.
"Can you put yourself in the shoes of the person you’re trying to transfer risk to?” he said. “There isn’t one single allocation model that is fit for every project.”
Looker said failure to agree on risk can prevent projects from reaching financial close. "I’ve unfortunately been involved in a number of projects where we just can’t get the deal done because there is not a meeting of minds around a specific aspect of risk.”
Alghaziri said Saudi regulations now state that the party with the capacity to manage a risk should take it, but that risk carries a cost. “You cannot just give the risk without pricing it,” he said. The NCP has trained more than 300 people over the past five or six years, including through a PPP professional certification it introduced in the kingdom.
Early planning
Hesham Ouf, senior director of finance at Roshn Group, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiary, said risk management begins at the feasibility stage. “You need to have the stage gates right from the beginning until the project is delivered,” he said.
Ali Al-Kuwari, senior manager of export development at Qatar Development Bank (QDB), said early disclosure of procurement needs allows lenders to assess project risk. “For me, the answer is very easy. I’ll ask for a sovereign guarantee,” he said.
Wesley Thomson, partner and head of environmental, social and governance (ESG) at UK property consultancy Knight Frank, said climate exposure is becoming a central risk for long-life assets. “Mitigation is not the right word any more. I prefer to say adaptation, because the truth is you need to adapt to what we’re seeing.”
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
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Financing hinders progress at major Iraqi refinery project2 October 2026

Financial problems are hindering progress at Iraq’s Al-Faw Investment Refinery project, according to industry sources.
Despite the main contract being signed more than two years ago, construction of the main refinery units has yet to begin because of ongoing financial issues, sources said.
In May 2024, a statement released by the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office said that Iraq’s state-owned Southern Refineries Company and China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC) had signed a contract to develop the project.
Iraq’s Oil Ministry previously said the project would be worth $7bn-$8bn.
The project has struggled to make progress even after direct intervention by Iraq’s previous prime minister.
On 6 August 2025, 15 months after the May 2024 contract signing with CNCEC, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, then prime minister, chaired a special meeting to resolve administrative and technical obstacles preventing the project from starting.
At the time, Al-Sudani said the refinery project would have significant financial returns and would be “a breakthrough in the oil industry”.
While the meeting in 2025 is believed to have solved some of the administrative issues blocking progress, financial problems with the project remain, sources said.
The Al-Faw project is part of the Iraqi government’s plan to increase Iraq’s refining capacity, attract foreign investment and increase domestic production of petroleum products.
Under existing plans, the refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels a day and will produce oil derivatives for both domestic and international markets.
The project will be carried out in two stages.
The first phase will involve refining operations, while the second will involve constructing a petrochemicals complex with a capacity of 3 million tonnes a year.
The project also includes building a 2,000MW power plant and establishing the Al-Faw Academy for Refinery Technology to train 5,000 Iraqi workers who will eventually work at the facility.
Hualu, a subsidiary of CNCEC, signed a preliminary principles agreement for the project in December 2021.
Due to material price inflation since December 2021, some insiders believe the project value may now be significantly higher than the previously estimated $7bn-$8bn.
READ THE OCTOBER 2026 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDFIndustry and logistics drive development at Neom; Saudi Arabia’s investment priorities realign amid conflict; MEED’s 2026 power developer ranking.
Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2026 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
> AGENDA: Oxagon takes centre stage at Neom> MARKET FOCUS: Saudi projects hold steady> INDUSTRY REPORT: MEED’s 2026 GCC power developer ranking> LEADERSHIP: The future city does not need to hang above the groundTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20207119/main.jpg -
Saudi pre-budget leans on borrowing to fund projects2 October 2026
Saudi Arabia plans to spend SR1.39tn ($371.2bn) in 2027, according to the Finance Ministry’s pre-budget statement. That is 3% less than the estimated outturn for 2026, after regional conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz pushed this year’s expenditure well past its allocation.
The ministry now expects 2026 spending to reach SR1.44tn, which is SR122bn or 9.3% above the SR1.31tn approved in the budget. Revenues are estimated at SR1.19tn, SR43bn above budget, leaving a deficit of SR245bn, equal to 4.9% of GDP. The original budget assumed a SR165bn deficit, or 3.3% of GDP.
For 2027, the statement projects revenues of SR1.2tn and a deficit of SR191bn, or 3.6% of GDP. Expenditure is forecast to rise to SR1.48tn in 2028 and SR1.54tn in 2029, with deficits of SR177bn and SR192bn projected for those years. On the ministry’s figures, the kingdom will run cumulative deficits of SR560bn ($149.3bn) between 2027 and 2029.
The economic backdrop has deteriorated sharply. The ministry expects real GDP to contract by 3.6% in 2026, driven by a 21.8% fall in oil activity, while non-oil activity grows by 3.2%. It forecasts a rebound to 12.8% real growth in 2027.
Capital spending
The statement does not publish a capital expenditure figure or a sector breakdown. Those will follow with the budget in Q4. It does signal that project spending will continue. As Vision 2030 enters what the statement calls its third phase, the government says efforts will focus on “accelerating the pace of delivery and capitalising on growth opportunities through continued government capital expenditure”. It also wants a stronger role for the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the National Development Fund in stimulating domestic investment.
The ministry says it will “implement infrastructure-related programmes” and direct resources “towards priority programmes and projects”. It also commits to “maximise the utilisation of existing government assets and investments”. That wording points to a sharper focus on completing and monetising existing schemes rather than launching new ones.
The medium-term debt strategy is designed to ensure “the continuity of the implementation of priority projects without being linked to the fluctuations of the economic cycle”, according to the statement.
The government’s revenue scenarios hold expenditure at SR1.39tn in all three cases. Under the lowest revenue case of SR1.13tn, the deficit widens to SR259bn. The highest case of SR1.26tn narrows it to SR132bn. Any change falls on borrowing rather than on spending.
The ministry says debt will deliberately rise by the end of 2027, and the borrowing plan will be disclosed by the end of this year. Alongside bonds, sukuk and loans, the government plans to expand “alternative government financing, including financing of projects, infrastructure and export credit agencies” in 2027 and over the medium term.
Private capital
The statement presents private investment as a growing share of project delivery. Investment in privatisation and public-private partnership (PPP) projects reached about SR180bn by the end of 2025. The National Privatisation Strategy was approved in November 2025. Ten privatisation and PPP projects have been launched under it in the first half of 2026, including the Prince Naif Bin Abdulaziz International Airport PPP in Qassim. Contracts were signed for the Sabic Mental Health Hospital and the Jubail Container Terminal, taking the total to 83 partnership contracts. Private capital investment has exceeded SR56.2bn, against a target of SR240bn by 2030.
The National Infrastructure Fund has committed SR10.5bn since 2022 to projects with a combined value of about SR59.3bn, of which SR44.1bn is private investment. Projects it has backed include the Neom green hydrogen project, the Shuaibah solar photovoltaic plants, the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz Airport expansion, the Jubail-Buraidah independent water transmission pipeline and the Ezditek data centre. The fund plans to expand into healthcare, education, sports and artificial intelligence.
PIF’s domestic investments totalled about SR750bn between 2021 and 2025. The statement lists several recent contracts across its portfolio. Diriyah Company, the PIF-owned developer of the Diriyah gigaproject, awarded a SR1.8bn contract to a consortium of local companies to build the Saudi Museum of Contemporary Art. PIF-owned Soudah Development signed a SR1.3bn agreement with National Grid SA, the transmission subsidiary of Saudi Electricity Company, to deliver electricity infrastructure for the Soudah Peaks project. Saudi Entertainment Ventures, also owned by PIF, plans 14 destinations across 13 cities, with investment of more than SR45bn. The Saudi Export-Import Bank plans to provide SR41.6bn of financing and insurance to non-oil exporters in 2027.
Logistics investment has also become a priority since the disruption to Gulf shipping. The share of non-oil exports passing through Red Sea ports rose to 40.7% during the crisis, from 19.3% before it. In July, the General Ports Authority signed contracts worth up to SR1bn for seven logistics centres at Jeddah Islamic Port and Al-Khumrah. A separate logistics corridors initiative connects Gulf ports to the Red Sea by road and rail.
The final 2027 budget is due for approval in Q4.
MEED’s October 2026 report on Saudi Arabia includes:
> COMMENT: Saudi projects hold steady
> GOVERNMENT: Riyadh looks to reset its regional defence outlook
> ECONOMY: Conflict bolsters case for Saudi economic diversification
> BANKING: Saudi lenders readjust to lower lending and deposit climate
> UPSTREAM: Aramco upstream spending gathers pace
> DOWNSTREAM: Sabic steps up Saudi petchems investment
> POWER: Saudi Arabia’s power award activity slows
> WATER: Saudi water sector hits sharp slowdown
> CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction defies the headwinds
> TRANSPORT: Saudi infrastructure pushes forward amid conflict
> DATABANK: Saudi data indicates project spending shiftTo see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/20206117/main.gif