IIM-A gears up to fight global warming

AHMEDABAD: If global warming is the new universal concern, then the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has already begun a drive to help develop cleantech business ventures.

Cleantech is the buzz word across the globe, which has caught the eyes of researchers as well as investors. Foreseeing the need of the hour and this emerging trend, the Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at IIM-A has launched a new programme to incubate clean technologies. It will address issues like conservation of energy, efficiency of energy, water and air pollution and renewable energies.

GenNext fuel and herbal pigments for clothes are examples of business ideas that are under incubation at IIM-A and are now in the final stages of implementation.

“The Cleantech Venture Program aims at identifying and promoting clean technologies being developed in universities, institutes and start-up ventures across the country. Like our other incubations, even in the cleantech program we will support these technologies with infrastructure networking, funding and intellectual expertise,” said Kunal Upadhyay, chief executive officer of CIIE.

Under this program, the CIIE has already received around 10 entries from educational institutes across the country on which work has begun.

These entries are from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advance Scientific Research (JNCASR). These ten projects focus on renewable energy, usage of wind energy, supply chain for equipment using solar energy and a model suggesting architectural changes needed to achieve energy efficiency.

Among the projects that CIIE has already incubated, Upadhyay said, “We have Aura Herbal Wear, which uses medicinally rich herbs for naturally dyeing textile products. This minimises the contamination of environment caused due to Azo dyes and carbon emission.”

The other projects include Jupiter Tech, which is building cleantech fuels using waste plastics. It is also into processes to manufacture fuel oils and related petroleum products from polymeric waste.

The third project, which is already in the market is by DRDO to provide arsenic-free water to eastern India. This has been developed with the help of NID and Sintex industries. According to Upadhyay, cleantech innovations are showing growing interest from venture capitalists across the world.
 
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