ERM has been operating in India since the early nineties and was the first consultancy to procure FIPB clearance to set up base in India. Besides Mumbai, the firm has branch offices in Delhi and Chennai.

Says ERM India vice-chairman and CEO TK Moulik, ``ERM provides expertise in various aspects of environment to corporates and the Government and has dealt with issues relating to public rehabilitation and hazardous waste managing where the potential is high.''

Sectors like oil and gas have major potential for giving specialist advice, Moulik said, ``Oil and gas is a sector which will always demand specialist advice on issues relating to environment management. Similarly, infrastructure areas like power and other infrastructure sectors arealso growth-intensive considering that India is highly populous. However, audits on health and safety and risk management will continue to be the bread and butter for the consultancy.''

ERM is currently engaged in a certification and verification service for Chennai-based Ford Motors which is aiming for the ISO 14000 certification. The audits will be followed by training programmes for the Ford employees to gear them up towards the ISO 14000.

Worldover, ERM's clients include funding agencies like World Bank, Department for International and Bilateral Funding, agencies and MNCs like Shell BV, Philip Morris, SmithKline Beecham, Coca-Cola, Whirlpool, Greaves and Bausch & Lomb among others. In India, ERM is also working for clients like the Tata Group.

The firm says that ERM provides integrated techniques and managerial expertise to provide practical and cost-effective solutions to environmental problems.

Consultancy services are provided to clients in over 100 countries on environmental managementsystems, regulatory analysis and market studies, environmental assessment, health and safety audits and risk management, waste management and resource recovery, social development and training.

In environmental management systems, for instance, consultancy services are provided in corporate environmental policy development, strategy implementation programmes, auditing and reporting systems.