JOIN USStartups from across India have set up stalls at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas exhibition centre to showcase their talent and achievements. Around 20 are sharing the platform under the umbrella “MEA-NITI Ayog National Contest of Social Innovation-2016”.
Some of them include non-polluting boats, a startup empowering women and another making organic fertiliser from banana peels.
The non-polluting boat, called Aditya, is said to be India’s first solar and electric ferry. Sandith Thandasherry, managing director, Navalt Solar and Electric Boats Pvt Ltd, told DH, “The idea came to us when we saw increasing pollution levels from diesel-powered boats that ferried people.”
If the sky is clear, then the solar panels charge the battery while the ferry is on the move but when it cloudy, the ferry is plugged to the electric panels and the battery is charged for eight hours.
Nyayika, a startup empowering women, was formed by Pramila Ben (40) from Gujarat.
“I was subjected to domestic violence. But now I have put all that behind me and I am helping my sisters fight for their rights. The NGO, not only handles domestic violence cases, rape and assault against women, but helps women and rural men in various government schemes,” she said.
Prakash Vaghasiya, co-director of V R Innovative Solution Enterprise, which has created Nutrivise Earth Organic Fertiliser from banana peels, told DH that the company is yet to be launched, but when the Gujarat government heard of the initiative they urged the firm to register for the competition. “The organic fertiliser is made only of banana peel with some bacterial anaerobic treatment to make fertilizers,” he said.