Green companies take roots in Indian soil

Global warming, by no doubt, is a Damocles’ sword that might fall on us in near future with unfathomable consequences. The other side of the coin is that developed nations have already started marketing its immense business opportunities under the name of conserving nature from the impending catastrophe. Green production of low-tech solar panels is one such innovation that has been almost monopolized by China.

With China leading the race, can India be left behind? EnNatura of Delhi has successfully extracted a washable, biodegradable printing ink from vegetable oil.  Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University, who has his focus on rising entrepreneurs, is highly optimistic in his comment that this business will soon develop itself into one with a turnover of about a billion dollars. The prominence of the innovation has its roots in the fact that at present, the Indian offset printing industry takes up one million tones of petroleum products and emits 500,000 tones of volatile organic compounds every year. The green venture, EnNatura, is funded both by Navam Capital and the government.

Yet another successful eco-friendly tale is that of solar-based LED lighting start-up. Rajasthan-based Pegasus Semiconductor has effectively made use of solar-based LED lamps to light up of both off--grid home and street lighting systems. Having successfully completed 1,200 installations in the state, it expects to have a turn over of $250,000 by the end of this fiscal year.

Aura Herbal Wear is yet another green company that manufactures textiles from organic cotton. Not only that, only herbal dyes is being used in the processing of these fully organic textiles in the place of 8,000-odd chemicals that are otherwise employed for the purpose. Funded by Gujarat Venture Fund Ltd, this firm too is making an annual income of $350,000.

Sachin Maheshwari of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a company that is already into the clean technology business by investing in five cleantech ventures says that post-Copenhagen, there is much scope for the development of clean technology companies. Generations of power from waste, e-waste recycling and solar LED lamps are his areas of focus in the highly potential efficiency and emissions space.

These clean tech companies find it easy to procure additional subsidies from the government, which always favor the development of green technologies. These companies will also be free from the strict regulations that the government places on the other corporate firms. No wonder, India has had about forty-nine big investments in the clean tech industrial sector in the last three years.