News 18 | Startups Shortlisted To Transform India's Water Management System

Sep 09,2022

The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Friday shortlisted 76 start-ups under the ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-Up Challenge’. The startups, that will be provided a financial support of up to Rs 20 lakh each, will work in the fields of water supply, used water management, water body rejuvenation and ground water management, said Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

The start-ups have been shortlisted by the ministry at an event in New Delhi through a challenge process launched in March 2022 under the AMRUT 2.0 Mission. In this regard, a ‘Startup Gateway’ has also been launched, wherein the start-ups can apply and be shortlisted by MoHUA for financial support.

“During the event, the Ministry also launched a Toolkit for ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’ in 485 cities. Pey Jal Survekshan, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, will assess cities with respect to the quality of water and the quality of water delivery to the citizens, along with sewerage, septage management, grievance redressal, water body conservation, ground water management etc," the ministry said in a statement.

The event also witnessed the awarding of 25 best photographs from the photography competition of the MoHUA, with an award of Rs 10,000 each. The competition was conducted for students by the Ministry under the ‘Mission Amrit Sarovar’ to spread awareness among masses about conservation of water bodies, it said.

Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for MoHUA; Manoj Joshi, secretary of MoHUA; D Thara, additional secretary of MoHUA; and other dignitaries were present at the event.

About 75,000 startups have been recognised in India and the startup ecosystem here continues to be fuelled by innovation, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit. India is now home to 75,000 startups.

“These numbers tell the power of a vision. A vision to see innovation & enterprise drive growth. India is now home to 75,000 startups in the 75th year of Independence and this is only the beginning," Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said.

While the initial 10,000 startups were recognised in 808 days, the latest 10,000 were achieved in only 156 days. With more than 80 Startups getting recognized per day, the highest rate in the world, the future of the startup culture is very promising and encouraging.

However, startups are also facing financial stress. The new-generation enterprises, including Vedantu, Unacademy and Cars24, have let go of over 6,000 employees this year. Ola has laid off about 2,100 employees during January-March this year, followed by Unacademy (over 600), Cars24 (600) and Vedantu (400). This apart, e-commerce firm Meesho has laid off 150 employees, furniture rental start-up Furlenco 200, influencer-led social commerce start-up Trell 300 employees and OkCredit has let go of 40 employees.

Edtech start-up Lido Learning has also filed for insolvency and bankruptcy with the National Company Law Tribunal. Its board of directors has also cleared a special resolution to file an application regarding this.