OPPORTUNITIES SHOWCASE

Resources Title Image Every year E Week India highlights a specific theme to enable sharper focus and immediate action, while keeping ideas fresh and relevant.

This year's theme, India: Opportunities Within, focuses public attention on some of the greatest opportunities in India's most critical challenges. From Water to Health Care to Waste Management to Education, the country faces daunting problems. But as pressure mounts, and the cost of technology drops, these problems offer enormous economic opportunities to those who solve them. Our Opportunities Showcase section introduces you to such opportunities - and to the entrepreneurs who are acting on them.

Do you know of startups that are working on innovative solutions to solve some of the biggest challenges that can be applied to India? Share with us >>

Infrastructure

  • Contributed by astonezhou3 on Tuesday, May 21, 2013 - 15:56
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    http://besttreadmillreviews2013.blogspot.com/

Energy

  • Contributed by umadbra on Thursday, January 17, 2013 - 10:40
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    http://drupal.armixcms.ru/node/28204
  • Contributed by magiczek on Saturday, December 15, 2012 - 11:56
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    http://www.bbadcreditloan.co.uk
  • Contributed by magiczek on Wednesday, December 12, 2012 - 18:21
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    http://www.grajcyk.pl
  • Contributed by heymetis on Monday, November 19, 2012 - 12:34
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    http://www.gierkii.pl
  • Contributed by jehepeol on Friday, November 9, 2012 - 08:08
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    http://www.jeuxonlinel.com
  • Contributed by shadowka on Wednesday, November 7, 2012 - 09:34
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    http://samedayloansg.com/
  • Contributed by Anonymous on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - 14:12
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    http://www.monclerjacketsalejp.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 12:07
    Over 30,00,00,000 people in 1,00,000 remote villages do not have access to electricity due to infrastructure constraints in India.
    Tapping non-grid systems for power generation like solar and LED
    Pegasus Semiconductor, founded by Siddhartha Tatti and Akshat Khare, integrates solar and LED technologies to generate electricity in remote rural locations. Their products include affordable, energy efficient homelighting systems and street lights. Pegasus Semiconductor has done 1300 home lighting installations in the remote Barmer district in Rajasthan, where 40 per cent of the villages are yet to be electrified. Their solution has added four-five productive hours in the lives of villagers. The company is now expanding in Karnataka, with 100+ installations in Hubli district. It is associated with the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
    http://www.pegasus-semiconductor.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 16:22
    India is 35% energy deficient.
    Tap renewable energy sources like agricultural waste for energy generation.
    Siddhartha Srivastava's startup VisViva is organizing a robust form of collection of cotton stock from farmers to enable renewable energy generation for furnaces. Two briquette units have been set up on a revenue sharing basis with farmers to produce eco-friendly fuel. A supplement to coal, the biomass energy generated by each unit is equivalent to lighting up ten villages. In addition, 4000 farmers in 50 villages in Maharashtra have benefited with a 15% increase in revenue through sale of cotton stock.
    http://www.visvivarenewables.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 20:11
    According to the 2001 census, only 56% of Indian households, and only 44% of rural households, are electrified. Of the country's power sources, 66% come from thermal sources, which are increasingly scarce and lead to environmental degradation through deforestation and/or carbon emissions.
    Micro-hydro power plants. Typically ranging upto 100 KW of power, these plants can provide power to isolated communities that are not served by electric grids.
    SBA Hydro and Renewable Energy's (SHREY) provides hydroelectric power to villages in the Himalayan Belt of northern India where, despite grid access, electricity supply is unreliable at best. Through design innovation in micro-turbines and generators, SHREY has developed a number of new turbine designs appropriate for the India micro-hydro context-customized to reduce cost and raise output efficiency.
    http://www.Notavailable.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 20:07
    More than 1.5 billion people in the world live without access to electricity. Many households rely on kerosene lanterns and candles to meet their lighting needs, but these light sources are expensive, hazardous, polluting and produce low-quality light.
    Portable and energy-efficient alternatives that provide better and safer lighting.
    Taking advantage of the advances in light emitting diode (LED) technology, D.Light provides an economically and socially preferable alternative to kerosene lanterns, which are expensive, inefficient, dangerous, and low-quality sources of light. The company's first product series, the Nova, is an all-purpose portable LED lamp that is designed to provide affordable light for families without reliable electricity.
    http://www.dlightdesign.com

Media/ Entertainment

  • Contributed by Rajiswari on Saturday, February 13, 2010 - 21:40
    The media today is losing the very ethics of news. There was a time when the press played a vital role in India's independence, but today the media is taking to unethical, sensational and biased news stories, much of it has been payed for.The challenge we face is reforming the fourth estate, the media.
    Where there is a will, there is a way. Fast booming is the internet. Blogging and social media have picked up like fire in India. Creation of online news networks based on citizen journalism platform will not only encourage people to take part but also provide them with an amazing platform to express themselves. Hard hitting honest communities will trickle down to every level of the web, thus creating a generation of young and aware opinion makers.
    Youth Ki Awaaz (www.youthkiawaaz.com) is fast growing as India's largest youth centric views website. With over 100 writers and compelling content, it is influencing youngsters in India and abroad. MeriNews (merinews.com) is India's largest citizen journalism platform. With thousands of writers and lakhs of reports, it can easily be compared to the mainstream media.
    http://www.youthkiawaaz.com

Telecom/ Mobile

  • Contributed by Divya Ranjani on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 18:34
    The biggest Challenge for User is getting Mobile Content for best rate and highest quality. Operators provide mobile content at very High rate, which is not affordable for Young as well as Old Generation. Using bluetooth and other technology can enable content download but their is always issue of compatibility.
    Where their is problem their lies opportunity for Young Enteprises. In India we have 40 million handsets with GPRS service, we only need operator as payment solution. We replaced operator and came with new solution.
    Visit Our portal and Check out easyness in content downloading.
    http://www.twistcontent.com

Entrepreneurship

  • Contributed by Mr. Krishna Kumar on Tuesday, February 9, 2010 - 11:40
    * Millions of women around the world cannot afford a basic necessity, mainly priced at a premium. Such women resort to an older and cheaper alternative – a piece of cloth or rag. This is an unhygienic alternative and can cause infections, irritations and embarrassing too ! – dignity must never be unaffordable
    By the Virtue of Innovation by Shri. A Muruganantham of Jayshree Industries, Coimbatore that was Honoured by President of India Award for Innivation, Women can setup Entrepreneurship Unit of Semi-Automatic Machinery with CAPEX as low as Rs. 1.5 Lacs & Manufacture Sanitary Napkin @ Re.1 cost price while the selling Price could be upto Rs. 2 - making it AFFORDABLE to poor women. Contact: Hari @ +91-9666682782
    About 200+ installation covering 14 states of India by now Ref @ http://www.tehelka.com/story_main42.asp?filename=cr290809the_pad.asp College E-cell based installation @ http://www.bangaloremirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=10&contentid=2010013120100131102018530f9d3a8ec Don't Miss the Inspiring Journey of this Innovation @ http://www.mefeedia.com/search/_muruganantham
    http://www.5award.nif.org.in/awardprofile-details.php?page=10&innovation_title=&innovator_name=&district=&state=&award=&award_type=&category=&st_id=-1
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 12:41
    India ranks 134 among 182 countries in the Human Development Report 2009 published by United Nations Development Report.
    20% of the country’s population is young (in the age group of 18-30 years), urban-based and educated. However, a miniscule percentage is involved in social and human development. This is largely because of lack of information, experience and access to the right opportunities. The idealism and energy of youth can be harnessed to help them become active participants in leading development in India.
    Youth Factor, started by Keerthikiran K, Sriram V and Abhilash Ravishankar of NEN member institute BITS-Pilani, offers Fellowship Programs which funds youth to go on road trips across India, discover and work with changemakers, document their trip using new media tools, and return to contribute to social change. 25 Fellows have been enrolled last year. Some of the projects include creating a road map for slum relocation in Aruku Valley in Andhra Pradesh, where Fellows were sensitized to community living in slums; and writing content for English text books for poor children in Barnipur, 200 kms from Kolkata. According to Keerthikiran, Fellows gain a deeper understanding of social problems, and are encouraged to act on solving them.
    http://www.yofa.org
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 14:04
    In villages and small towns across the developing world, a lack of access to markets and capital is crippling entrepreneurs and small businesses, stifling job creation and poverty alleviation.
    Leverage technology to create accessible and affordable electronic marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers across a country.
    CellBazaar is a virtual marketplace in Bangladesh that allows buyers and sellers to connect with one another and buy and sell goods and services using their mobile phones. The CellBazaar marketplace is available to more than 25 million people in Bangladesh, including farmers who use the service to sell their harvest at fair market prices and struggling students that find and connect with tutors.
    http://www.cellbazaar.com

Cleantech

  • Contributed by Sanjay Surana on Saturday, February 6, 2010 - 22:55
    Managing the Waste of the City CDC has developed an innovative model for the scientific & prolific management of waste. Genesis of this concept of scientific & prolific management of waste conceived looking at the services of municipal bodies. Their services are limited to sanitation outside the house. But as a fact domestic garbage contributes to 80% of the total waste generated. Presently, this garbage comes out in the form of polythene bags.
    Kanak Resources Management Limited is a joint venture company promoted by IL & FS Waste Management Segregation of wastes at source Zero garbage on roads Prolific disposal of waste Peoples participation in Urban waste management Sustainability of the process Socio- economic upliftment of schedule castes Non hazardous handling of waste
    They are collecting the garbage of the city and managing it to clean the environment. Total Solution of Sanitation Problem From source of generation to final disposal includes segregated collection of waste, street sweeping, drainage cleaning, transportation etc. Door-to-Door Garbage CollectionFrom source of generation to Community Transfer station. Transportation of Garbage From Community transfer station to final dumpsite. Micro planningIt implies optimal utilization of municipal resources.
    http://kanakresources.com/

Finance

  • Contributed by Monica R on Friday, February 5, 2010 - 17:19
    Bridge Urban Rural divide programme : Create a Framework programme one (FP1) called INDIA -URBAN-RURAL DEVELOPMENT Framework on the lines of European Union Framework 7 program (FP7) as the main financing tool covering almost all disciplines for the period 2010-2020.
    FP1 should cover all thematic areas and should evolve to become the largest public funding allocation in India . All best practices processes like Open call, and determine the participation criteria, funding criteria and results criteria can be taken after discussion with experts
    Example : 2 partner hand holding companies from Urban areas and 2 partner companies/org from Rural area should participate. It is mandatory for rural organizations to participate. See details on euroindiaresearch website (www.euroindiaresearch.org) for similar examples
    http://www.notavailable.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 12:03
    A large number of people in low income groups, to a large extent, go without bank accounts. Vegetable vendors, small business owners, students, taxi and auto drivers comprise this largely unbanked segment.
    To use innovation and the mobile phone phenomenon to provide cheap banking solutions to provide ‘unbanked’ individuals access to bank accounts.
    In 2008, a tech startup, Eko India Financial Services, took banking to individuals who were earlier unbanked by way of a mobile banking service. The Eko project has partnered with the SBI to launch no-frill mini saving bank accounts to cater to individuals who earn less than Rs. 5000 a month. Just by clicking a few buttons on their mobile phones, these account holders can deposit, withdraw and check their account balance without having to go the bank. Their mobile numbers become their bank account numbers and they are provided with a special PIN. Going forward, Eko plans to train kirana and medical shops to act like bank extension counters to facilitate ease of access to their 5000 + customers!
    http://www.eko.co.in

Education

  • Contributed by Imtiaz on Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 23:53
    Traditional communication and knowledge management tools like static portals and email capture the information only at the end of the journey. However lot of invaluable information which can be turned into knowledge assets is lost in the heap of emails or other forms of communication which hardly gets captured or is difficult to organize and retrieve.
    Finding a single tool which not only provides a way you can share thoughts in form of a blog but also capture all your discussions, store and share files, carry out college projects, host events/seminars etc, creating teams of similar interest everything online without expensive hardware or costly software license and hence helping in knowledge management and also to achieve your goals.
    1. PES used Injoos for PES Knowledge Center: Collaboration workspaces for students to organize and manage their Projects. Mentors provide active feedback as the project progress happens. Encourage reuse by easily sharing of reference material. Provide multiple communication channels to spread news / Information around the organization. Enabled staff, students and alumni to communicate with each other. PES Publications: Create a repository of all Articles, Newsletters, and Journals in the College and share it with the outside world with an easily maintainable dynamic portal. Collaboration spaces for Faculty members to organize 2. Aim of MS Ramaiah Institute of Management is to prepare future managers to face the most difficult issues across a multi-disciplinary work environment with ease. This requires to equip the students with the industry best practices and be in touch with the world. This calls for equipping onself with information, industry trends, share ideas, capture brainstorm sessions that will enable them to get insights of a real world scenario. Keeping this objective in mind, MSRIM used Injoos for knowledge sharing and benefitted by building vital knowledge, improved quality of projects executed by students and branding of Institution
    http://www.injoos.com/
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 11:59
    Placements are a taxing time at most campuses. The number of colleges has increased greatly and companies are inundated with offers to visit campuses to recruit. Placement officers do the rounds of companies but can only cover a limited number. And unless the institute is a big brand, getting a significant number of companies to visit for placements is always hard.
    Use technology to change the way the campus recruitment model works.
    Founded by IIT graduates, Harpreet Grover and Vibhore Goyal, CoCubes.com is derived from the words - connecting, colleges and companies. Cocubes.com allows companies and students to interact at one single location - online, thus automating the process of HR placements. Targeting 270 colleges in15 states, Cocubes.com helps institutes to streamline their recruitment process and increase placements by being visible instantly to all companies visiting Cocubes.com. Companies looking to hire benefit as well – by leveraging the technology, they are able to increase their reach, reduce costs and interact more effectively with students – making the hiring process an infinitely more successful one!
    http://www.cocubes.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 16:26
    Tough competition to get into the country's best professional institutes. 12,00,000 applications for 4,000 seats in IITs, 5,50,000 seats for 350 seats in IAS. Almost 80% of these applicants are from Tier II and III cities that don't have good training facilities to face this competition.
    Innovate on technology to deliver world-class training and education for aspirants in Tier II and III cities to help them tackle competition.
    VMukti, founded by Hardik Sanghvi, has tied up with three leading preparatory schools to provide tele-education through an online video-communication platform to students in Tier II and III cities. In one month, a 1000 students have enrolled in 5 Tier II cities.
    http://www.vmukti.com

Agribusiness/ Agriculture

  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 13:04
    Nine out of ten farmers in India are vulnerable to changing weather conditions, rising input costs, pests and diseases, fluctuating market prices and unreliable consultants. Limited literacy levels, very small land holding and effects of climate change make them even more vulnerable.
    Mobile phones have now reached the masses, with 500 million users and counting. The mobile phone can be customized to meet farmer needs - helping them take pictures, get advice, connect to experts, receive weather and news alerts and check market rates.
    Agrocom, founded by Krithi Ramamritham, Dr Bishnu Pradhan and Anil Bahuman, and incubating at SINE, IIT Bombay, provides a software toolkit for mobile phones with GPRS, content subscriptions for basic cell phones and aAQUA - a Farmer Knowledge Exchange - where farmers receive solutions to their problems for the price of a phone call, SMS or browsing. aAQUA Online has recorded 9,796 interactions with farmers from 300 districts so far. Other products on the anvil include smart phones with agri-sensors, using mobile phones to test soil and water quality; bio-sensors to detect diseases in plants, and sensors placed in poultry, goat, cow sheds that monitor ambient conditions and provides flu alerts. Agrocom is supported by farmers welfare societies, agro universities and agri-consultants who use aAQUA online and offline the phone.
    http://www.agrocom.co.in

HR/ Recruiting / Training

  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 12:01
    Sectors like retail and BPO have been creating a huge number of jobs in the country. However, rural India has been left behind when it comes to providing appropriate candidates for these sectors. And the prime reason for this is lack of vocational skills and training to be equipped for these jobs.
    To tap into and channelize a huge market comprising rural, small town and low income groups and equip them to take up sustainable employment.
    Armed with an MBA in Marketing, Richa Pandey Mishra launched ‘EJeevika HR Pvt Ltd’. This is a program that gives rural youth industry specific skills and vocational training to help them become employable in the corporate world. The venture has an interesting model – here, placement precedes training! EJeevika conducts initial screening by way of psychometric tests to see where a person fits in best and then clients talk to candidates. After selection, appropriate training is conducted - both online and offline where the candidate is located. In just about a year of operations, EJeevika has trained youth in retail, security and data entry.
    http://www.ejeevika.com

Water

  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 11:57
    Access to available potable water is a nightmare in India’s remote Rajasthan and Kutch desert regions. There is very little rainfall that fills up small ponds only for a few months before they are dry again. Even if water is available, often it is saline or polluted which is why women usually have to walk for miles to find clean drinking water.
    To make potable drinking water available and easy to access in the far flung deserts and water scarce regions by using existing resources.
    A Dutch company, Aqua-Aero Water Systems (AAWS), founded by Matijn Nitzsche, is helping to solve the perennial water problem of tropical regions across the world. Combining technology, capacity building and local entrepreneurship, AAWS has developed a ‘Water Pyramid’ that produces distilled water using solar energy and rainwater harvesting! The technology uses a huge pyramid shaped transparent plastic sheath to direct sunlight onto saline water. As the water evaporates, it collects inside the pyramid and this naturally purified water is then stored in a tank. The ‘Water Pyramid’ in rural Rajasthan is producing nearly 1000 litres a day and meets the water requirements for close to 500 people on a daily basis!
    http://www.aaws.nl
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 20:08
    Contamination of water due to hardness, fluorides, nitrates and salinity is a huge problem in India. Studies suggest over 200 M people don't have access to clean drinking water.
    Affordable reverse osmosis systems. What is reverse osmosis?
    Environment Planning Group Limited (EPGL), a for-profit organization based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, has developed a strong expertise in designing Reverse RO systems. It has pioneered a new model for small clusters that drastically reduces the initial installation costs and simplifies the maintenance of community water system.
    http://www.epglindia.org

Health

  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Monday, February 1, 2010 - 11:54
    Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘India lives in its villages ’. Yet, 80% of the country’s best healthcare facilities reside in large urban centres. This stems from the fact that it’s in the cities that one finds the most qualified doctors, top of the line medical facilities and patients who can afford to pay huge bills!
    To make accessible, affordable and quality medical care available in rural and semi urban India.
    Founded by Dr. Ashwin Naik and Dr. Veerendra Hiremath, ‘Vaatsalya’, a for-profit social enterprise, is building a network of low-cost hospitals in tier II and tier III towns in India. The Vaatsalya hospitals cater to basic medical requirements of the local community and in order to stick to the adage ‘low cost but high quality’, they are frugal and follow a no-frills approach! The enterprise even rents out its hospital locations and hires staff locally to minimize costs. They look to take on talented, young doctors who have just finished their specializations and in this manner have set in place a cost structure that has investors smiling! Vaatsalya already has a chain of seven hospitals across Karnataka and is slowly expanding to twenty hospitals across India.
    http://vaatsalya.com
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 16:27
    Anaemia is the single-largest cause of maternal mortality in India. 1 million deaths a year are directly caused by anaemia around the world.
    Accessible and affordable screening and monitoring of anaemia.
    Darshan Nayak's Biosense produces a portable and affordable easy-to-use device for point-of-care screening and monitoring of anaemia for rural India.
    http://www.biosense.in
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Thursday, January 28, 2010 - 16:26
    Healthcare is unaffordable for a majority of Indians. A health issue can drive a low-income family to the brink of poverty and debt trap.
    Schemes that make quality healthcare accessible and affordable to the masses.
    Swasth India, founded by IIT alumni Sundeep Kapila, Ankur Pegu and Arvind Saraf, and AIIMS alumnus Dr Devashish Saini, has implemented a health-management scheme for low income segments, offering them access to basic health services - disease prevention, curative care, OTC drugs, health promotion and referral services at discounted prices. Swasth has tied up with Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Maharashtra, and Labournet, Bangalore, for membership.
    http://www.swasthindia.in
  • Contributed by ROHIT. S.V on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - 20:09
    India's maternal mortality and morbidity levels remain among the highest in the world. Only 43% of Indian women are cared for by a skilled attendant during birth and more than 100,000 women die every year from pregnancy-related causes.
    Affordable healthcare services for low and lower-middle income people in urban, semi-urban and rural areas.
    LifeSpring is a network of Maternity and Child Healthcare hospitals that provide vital reproductive and pediatric healthcare to low and lower-middle-income people in urban and peri-urban areas. The rates charged by LifeSpring Hospitals for general ward patients are less than one-third the market rate for normal deliveries and half the rate for caesarian deliveries.
    http://www.lifespringhospitals.com