IIT Kanpur invites applications for Garbage Free Cities 2.0 programme

NEW DELHI: The Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre (SIIC) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Kanpur) has partnered with the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), to support startups through the startup gateway for Garbage Free Cities 2.0 programme. As the implementation agency for the programme, SIIC IITK has invited startups from across the country to apply for the next cohort of innovators.

The selected startups will receive significant benefits such as funding support of Rs 20 lakh, a one-year incubation programme, business acceleration and additional funding, technical and business mentoring from subject-specific experts, access to state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced R&D facilities, and facilitated investor connections. The participating startups will establish direct links with corporations and urban local bodies (ULBs), enabling them to deploy innovative solutions in the field.

S Ganesh, officiating director, IIT Kanpur, said, "With increasing population and urbanisation, waste management has emerged as one of the increasingly difficult challenges of our times. At IIT Kanpur we have a strong innovation and incubation ecosystem that has been contributing to provide technical solutions to a variety of societal challenges by supporting startups."

Ankush Sharma, professor in-charge, SIIC, “SIIC, IIT Kanpur has always been at the forefront of promoting and nurturing next-generation technological response to global challenges. The collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for the Startup Gateway for Garbage Free Cities 2.0 program is part of our commitment to positively impacting society and the planet.”

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The initiative is part of the programme’s goal to expedite the Swachh Bharat Mission by offering crucial support to businesses in various thematic areas, including zero dump, reduce, reuse and recycle, plastic waste management, waste segregation, innovative waste cleaning, real-time waste monitoring and social innovation for waste management.