Inventions by Indian start-ups are proof of technological advancement and optimistic influence generated from maintaining an environmentally cognizant approach to business. Global climate, government backing, and private investments have developed a beneficial ecosystem for start-ups to test and design solutions fitted for India. The nation’s demands are taking leaps and bounds towards being more environmentally affable. Being environment friendly is about enduring the required actions and taking deliberate measures to challenge lifestyles and economise resources. The endeavour to go green has been regarded by numerous industries, as businesses are starting to acknowledge how their operations affect the environment. India's companies and start-ups seem to put in universal effort to save the planet and contain climate change by employing recycled or renewable resources to lower energy consumption and waste.1
Massive climate change catastrophes over the last decade have attracted the attention of prospective eco-entrepreneurs and CEOs. They contribute to India's sustainability affirmation by recognising the indicative trends and making critical transformations in their respective sectors. Given the scale of industries in India, the country has incredible prospects to play a vital role in sustainable industrial development (ISID).
India's SMEs have become a critical force in propelling the economy over the years. According to the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the country's 42.5 million SMEs employ about 40 per cent of India's workforce and contribute about 30 per cent of the country's GDP2. Consequently, to fulfill India's SDG commitments, the government puts its stake in MSMEs. Different government initiatives such as Zero Defect, Zero Effect (ZED) are building a robust ecosystem of sustainability drivers.
The contemporary line of young eco-entrepreneurs is carrying the sustainability narrative onwards, innovating their company prototypes and presenting a sustainability first philosophy recognised in a new era of environmentally cognizant products and services. They are being supported by the vibrant multiple sustainability-driven ecosystems, strengthening its stimulus.
Indian Start-ups Making India Sustainable:
Waste Ventures India: A Telangana-based for-profit social firm is raising the value to stakeholders across the value chain by transforming paradigms in solid waste management. The start-up claims to reduce waste of a particular gated society or office by up to 90 per cent and leaves a green footprint in return. Its R&D team has designed a scientific, free-from-infested flies and odourless procedure to consolidate organic waste. In the process of ground waste collection, it is spreading awareness about waste management among the local community, which is enabling the people to understand recycling better, composting, and other green initiatives. It is one of the first start-ups which provided a digital doorstep recyclable pickup service in Hyderabad. The company has prevented over 3000 tons of waste from Indian dumpsites since late 2013.3
Nexus Power: The start-up creates biodegradable electric vehicle batteries from crop residue by leveraging nanotechnology. The business utilises one of the significant sources of air pollution, unburnt crops, in manufacturing rechargeable energy-storing cells using a distinctive extraction and filtration technique. Such cells are later installed in electric vehicles as they are used to make the IoT and AI-based sensor-enabled battery pack.4
Zunroof: ZunRoof is a home tech start-up and a residential solar rooftop company. It is a Gurugram established start-up founded in 2016 that delivers solar energy and IoT smart energy solutions for creating next-generation energy technology. It claims over 10,000 solar rooftop installations and 30,000 system designs across India. The five-year-old start-up is currently in over 75 cities across 12 states and claims to have preserved electricity bills worth INR 50 crore. The start-up is supported by the family office of alliance Godrej, Intellicap Investment Network, and alumni of IIT Kharagpur.5
Phool.Co: Phool. co is a flower recycling technology start-up. It concentrates on the circular economy, remaking floral waste into charcoal available luxury fragrance products. They accumulate the floral waste from the temples and mosques in Uttar Pradesh, averting 7600 kgs of waste flowers and 97 kgs toxic chemicals from reaching into the river every day. Rustic women self-help groups handcraft the waste into patented organic fertiliser and scent sticks through flower cycling.6 While these startups are playing their part in making the nation sustainable, covering these startups also plays a larger part in encouraging more young and bright minds of India to not just create businesses but make them future-ready in the sense that they are the future themselves.
This article has been co-authored by Karishma Sharma and Bhakti Jain.
