Small players in Punjab opt to reduce carbon footprint

Thapar University's STEP provides handholding services through commercialisation

A number of small entrepreneurs in Punjab have begun working at the grassroots level to reduce their carbon footprint and ensure sustainable development. And Science and Technology Entrepreneurs' Park (STEP) at Thapar University in Patiala is providing them with handholding services through commercialisation and transfer of technology.

Focusing on agri-biotechnology, bio-fertilisers, bio-pesticides, mushroom cultivation, plant tissue culture, food processing technology, soy processing and spirulina production technology, STEP has successfully incubated 25 companies, of which 10 have started their own ventures, thereby providing employment to more than 100 people.

After attending a mentorship programme at STEP, Sandeep Garg, 48, a sub-divisional officer with Punjab's public health department, resigned his government job and set up Ecolabs - a solid waste-management company - in Mohali. In collaboration with STEP, Garg has developed a strain of bacteria to recycle organic waste into bio-compost.

"The process can be of immense use in producing organic manure with the help of organic waste generated by restaurants and hotels. We will soon do the commercial launch and explore its use by municipal corporations on a larger scale," Garg said.

Rajiv Aneja's journey has been similar to that of Garg. He gave up the option of working in the United States and set up a venture called ABCA Biosolutions, headquartered at Chandigarh, to work in the field of algal biodiesel.

"The cultivation of algae as a substitute for corn and jatropha bio-diesel is very eco-friendly and cost-effective. It has been proven in the US that corn yields 450 gallons of oil per acre per year, whereas algae yields 9,000 gallons per acre per year of oil. The yield of algae may vary in different parts of India but it would definitely be much higher than other crops. This would save on land requirement, cost of irrigation and ensure a higher income for farmers," said Aneja.

Aneja, 32, did his doctorate at Thapar University and went to the US in 2009 for three years on a Bridge and Edge grant from the US government to study business management in the life sciences.

"At the present pace of consumption, our natural resources will not last for more than three decades, so it is high time we seriously work towards sustainable development," he said.

Aneja is getting queries from large corporate players in the transport sector and farmers in southern India, and has high hopes about the future of the project. "The initial cost of bio-diesel may be higher than the prevailing price of fossil fuel but in the long run the costs would be compressed," he said.

Even a small progressive farmer like Satnam Singh of Samana Mandi is harnessing technology. Singh, 45, has installed a low fat-high protein soya milk and cheese plant with a capacity of 2,200 milk packets and 800 paneer packets per day. The by-products of soya processing are also consumable. The liquid residue of cheese is used in making jal-jeera, a beverage, and the solid residue is used as fodder for animals. So the project has a low carbon footprint.

The support of scientists at STEP helped Singh to diversify from wheat and paddy cultivation, and he now sells his soya products under the brand name 'Anmol Soy' in Punjab and Chandigarh.

STEP was set up in April 2005, as a joint venture between the National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB), the Union government's department of science and technology (DST), and Thapar University. It got government funding in the initial years but is now self-financed.

STEP's executive director, Dinesh Goel, said it has conducted 74 entrepreneurship development programmes and 16 farmers' meets since its inception, in the process providing hands-on training to hundreds of people, including students of various reputed institutes, teachers, researchers, farmers, NGOs, and entrepreneurs. After exiting STEP, they remain available for consultancy and other services.

The core facilities that STEP provides the SMEs are business incubation, entrepreneurship education, consultancy, training and mentoring.