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I am reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
India has been grappling with a devastating and growing water crisis for years, yet many of India’s urban areas are unaware of its scale and impact. India has about 18% of the world’s population, but only 4% of its water supply is available. In India, in 2021, less than 50% of the population will have access to clean drinking water.
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The central government launched the Jal Jeevan Mission Grameen (DDWS) in 2019 to amend it to provide all rural households with safe and sufficient drinking water through individual tap connections by 2024. 19% of the households within 4 years he will be 50%, an amazing feat.
But despite laudable achievements in improving supply and access, providing clean water at this scale is proving to be a thorny problem, to say the least. Until we work together to build an effective, durable and sustainable last-mile system, managing downstream systems remains a challenge. Leakage in pipelines is a major threat, conservatively estimating 10 trillion liters of water lost annually, and the actual figure could be up to 500 trillion liters. Even if your pipes are not leaking, water contamination is another serious problem.
The Indian government faces challenges. Should we slow down efforts to lay pipes with increased supplies while we optimize the system, or should we continue the pace and wait until leaks and problems are clarified?
This is when The/Nudge Institute decided to intervene. The/Nudge Prize adopts a globally recognized guided challenge format for social innovation by inviting entrepreneurs to solve complex development challenges. Solutions that come close to solving the above problems are eligible to win significant grants and catalytic support through partnerships, mentorships and ecosystem advice. The / Nudge Prize has featured “Clean Water For All” as its latest challenge in partnership with Ashirvad Pipes, who are offering his ¥250 million prize to winners and finalists. The Nudge | Ashirvad Water Challenge was launched in February 2022 in partnership with the Office of the Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government of India. 140 applicants and 25 semi-finalists began his year-long journey to pitch, pilot, and scale the solution. The winner will receive $10 million, the runner-up will receive $75 million, and the five finalists will receive $15 million each.
Ashirvad Water Challenge is not for the faint of heart. While there is promise in the market, entrepreneurs looking to solve this problem also need to find ways to make the sector and its solutions monetizable yet impactful. How do you build a business model when your primary product, water, is free and the costs are hidden by necessary government subsidies? Who pays for better quality and delivery if you expect it to be that way?
This is not to say that competitors should slow down and change direction completely. Most participants have a personal connection to the problem, believe it is possible, and are happy to demonstrate the grit and determination necessary to succeed in this field.
“My interest in creating technology to address social issues has always been strong. When my family and I experienced repeated water outages and water pollution during our school days, we were able to address the issues of water shortages and clean drinking water. It inspired me to develop a technical solution to do so.. This experience ultimately gave birth to Solinas Integrity.
– Moinak Banerjee, co-founder. Solinas is a company building remotely operated crawlers that can detect leaks and contamination and assess the health of pipeline networks.
“Faced with drought-like conditions during my final year of college and only one bucket of water per day, I was encouraged to look for alternative water sources and rethink the way we procure and distribute high-quality water. Together with science-based innovation, we can inspire and drive more impactful work in the seafood industry.”
– Swapnil Shrivastav, co-founder of Uravu Labs, a solution to generate 100% renewable water from air at scale
“Several lakes in Bangalore have become sewage pits and have been dead for some time. With this experience, I was surprised to see the supply-demand gap (>50%) predicted by NITI Aayog and the urban leakage (120 trillion liters per year) announced by the United Nations.”
– Sajin K, co-founder of i47 Innovation Labs, a company looking to host a platform that makes every aspect of water management easier
These stories and more demonstrate the depth and breadth of competitors who understand the real challenges of India’s water security and seek to address them with cutting-edge technology-enabled solutions.
The Ashirvad Water Challenge is disruptive in another sense as it calls for cooperation and competition among competitors. The scale of this problem requires an entire ecosystem of stakeholders, including multiple participants, to work together to address the underserved underwater space. The end result of the award is not just to establish a single solution, but to catalyze the sector and find innovation faster. to solve everything. Participants will therefore come together to develop perspectives on important and pervasive issues such as water quality, access to drinking water, water source sustainability, community mobilization, and then various downstream issues once addressed. We encourage you to compete on how to provide a solution.
The / Nudge Prize also recruited independent water expert evaluators to conduct field-based evaluations and a panel of experts shortlisted five finalists. The program will run for 18 months and will give all leading finalists access to a pool of investors including key market players, government officials, Social Alpha, Aavishkaar, BharatInnovation Fund, and sector-specific accelerators – IHE DELFT We provide mentorship and incubation opportunities from , Imagine H2O Asia, Indus Water Institute, etc.
When it comes to water, however, the most catalytic group of Immersion Partners are the established civil society organizations that have been working in the water and sanitation field for decades. The / Nudge Prize is privileged to partner with organizations such as WaterAid, Water.org, India Water Portal and INREM Foundation to create a ringside view for select entrepreneurs to find partnerships and immersion opportunities on the ground. is given.
Now, 10 months later, the competition has seen an incredible number of innovative people, ranging from innovation-focused pilots to established organizations trying to solve last-mile problems in rural India. technologies and business models that have already been calculated are heating up.
When the issue is resolved, it is a matter of when, but it will be one of the most important developments in the history of India’s development since the Green Revolution.
One day you might be able to drive through rural India and stop at any tap to get a drink. Then we may be able to find out which companies have helped make it happen – entrepreneurs and ecosystems of his partners who never gave up on real challenges.
Follow us at https://prize.thenudge.org for updates and latest breakthroughs from the Ashirvad Water Challenge. The / Nudge Prize will announce his five finalists in January 2023, and entrepreneurs will compete for the grand finale over the next six months. One of them walks away with his 1 million rupee bounty, but all contribute to deep and long-term solutions to India’s water problems.
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