News On Air | Indian startups felicitated to strengthen sanitation & waste management sector

Sep 20,2022

Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs felicitated 30 startups at a conclave held at the Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi on 20th September. The day-long conclave is a platform to provide a range of funding and incubation support to Startups in order to develop the sanitation and waste management industry, cementing India’s position as the world’s third largest startup ecosystem.

It aims to provide startups with a treasure trove of experience, knowledge, and learnings that would help them to navigate their way in this sector and successfully take their solutions to scale.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban (SBM-U) in collaboration with AFD (Agence Française de Développement) and the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), launched the Swachhata Startup Challenge on 27th Jan’22 to promote an enabling environment for development startups and entrepreneurs in the waste management sector.

On 19th September, while speaking to the shortlisted startups, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to offering all assistance and support to start-ups. In order to draw attention to some of the most pressing issues with cleanliness, the Minister noted that there are numerous opportunities for startups to innovate and grow their businesses, including the management of plastic waste, mechanised sewer and septic tank cleaning solutions, scientific processing of solid and liquid waste, etc.

During the conclave, Binay Jha, Director, SBM-U 2.O highlighted the importance of waste sector management and the successful journey of the Swachhata Startup Challenge, which furthers the vision of Waste To Wealth, contributing to Garbage Free Cities.

Addressing the conclave, Abhijit Bangar, Municipal Commissioner, Navi Mumbai sought sustainable innovative solutions for maintaining the cleanliness of Community Toilets and Public Toilets. He also highlighted the urgent need for sustainable technology for meat waste management.

The Swachhata Startup Challenge sought innovative solutions from Startups in the waste management domain under four thematic areas, viz,

(i) Social Inclusion: Low-cost efficient mechanical solutions for cleaning septic tanks and sewer lines

(ii) Zero Dump (Solid Waste Management): Innovative solutions for tracking segregated door to door collection of solid waste

(iii) Plastic Waste Management: Solution of processing and recycling of plastic waste and minimizing degradation of plastic during recycling

(iv) Transparency (Digital Enablement): Tech innovations in real-time monitoring of operations in waste management infrastructure

The competition intended to reward 10 out of 30 startup solutions with financial support totaling 25 lakh each and one year of incubation. In addition to this, qualified startups will also receive extra incentives, such as up to 50 lakh of follow-on investment from Villgro (the challenge’s implementation partner) and up to 100,000 USD credits & technology support from technology partner Amazon Web Services.

The conclave was attended by all Startups of Swachhata Startup Challenge, established startups, investors, sector partners, industry experts, municipal commissioners of million-plus cities, representatives from DPIIT, Govt. of India, FCCII, CII, and other associations.

The Swachhata Startup Conclave was held as part of the Swachh Amrit Mohotsav, which is being observed starting from September 17th to October 2nd, 2022.