76 startups have befen selected under ‘India Water Pitch Pilot-Scale Startup Challenge’ promoted by The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) on Friday (September 9).
Each of the shortlisted startups will be provided with up to INR 20 Lakh to work in the water sector including areas such as water supply, used water management, water body rejuvenation and ground water management.
The start-ups have been shortlisted by the Ministry through a challenge process launched in March, 2022 under 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.
India Water Pitch : Startups to get INR 20 Lakh funding
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said. “Startups will be provided support of up to INR 20 Lakh each and will work on issues of water supply, management and water body rejuvenation,”
The announcement was made at an event which saw senior dignitaries in attendance, including Puri, Minister of State in MoHUA Kaushal Kishore, Secretary Manoj Joshi, among others.
The Watertech challenge was launched under the aegis of the AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) 2.0 Mission in March earlier this year. The startups were shortlisted via a challenge and selected after a rigorous process. Earlier, the ministry had outlined plans to onboard around 100 startups under the initiative, but appears to have settled for 76 startups. In a statement released earlier, the ministry had noted that “the initiative aims at empowering startups in the water sector to grow through innovation and design that will drive sustainable economic growth and generate employment opportunities”.
As part of the programme, startups have been roped in to bring innovative ideas to the table and to develop technologies and novel delivery mechanisms to address issues related to water scarcity.
Launched last year, AMRUT 2.0 seeks to make Indian cities ‘water secure’ and has been envisaged to address growing scarcity of water in many parts of the country.
A NITI Aayog report previously warned that the country is undergoing the worst water crisis in its history and nearly 600 Mn people are facing extreme to high water stress.
