This woman entrepreneur’s startup generates electricity from crop residue to curb pollution from stubble burning
Founded in 2017, Delhi-based startup RY Technologies provides biomass supply chain solutions to reduce air pollution due to stubble burning.
The high levels of air pollution and increasing temperature in Delhi has become a news cycle that repeats itself every year. The city was identified as the world’s most polluted capital for two years in a row in 2019, according to AirVisual, a Swiss-based group that gathers air-quality data globally.
Aayushi Agarwal, Co-founder, RY Energies
Besides carbon emission from vehicles and industry, burning piles of garbages, and dust and debri from construction sites, farmers from the nearby fields are also a huge part of the problem.
Merchandised harvesting leaves behind several inches of crop residue that must be removed to ensure a healthy rabi crop during winter. Most farmers burn the residue crops to clear the farm, releasing toxic gases into the atmosphere. This practice, called stubble burning, significantly contributes to the city’s worsening air quality.
In fact, smoke from stubble burning in fields of Punjab and Haryana accounted for 44 percent of air pollution in Delhi on November 1, 2019, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR.
Fuel from stubble
Aayushi Agarwal and Aru Mangla were two college students living this reality of hazardous air pollution, especially in the months of October and November. After knowing about the stubble burning practice and after conducting a little research, the duo learnt that crop residue is a source of energy and can be used as raw material by power plants.
However, they found that the supply chain link between farmers and power plants was not established. “Farmers are not able to supply the material in sufficient quantities to power plants and the plant could not approach farmers individually due to small land holdings in India,” Aayushi explains.
The duo decided to address this gap with a sustainable technology solution and founded RY Energies, incorporated as ReneYou Greentech, while pursuing their bachelor’s degree in 2017.
Incubated at SSCBS innovation and Incubation Foundation in 2017, it provides biomass supply chain solutions connecting farmers with biomass-based power plants. The entrepreneurs believe it is a “win-win solution” for all stakeholders including the environment.
The founders work with village-level entrepreneurs who operating farming machines to process the crop residue into compact bales. The startup sells to its B2B clients on price per tonne basis.
Aayushi Agarwal and Aru Mangla, Co-founders, RY Energies
In addition to supplying raw materials, it also offers on-site biomass management like shredding and year-long fuel assurance. Besides, it also helps by offering consultancy services regarding ideal location for plants and availability of raw material.
There are several organised and unorganised players including local farmers who do this at a smaller capacity.
After extensive research on the business model, end users in the market and several field visits, the startup commercialised its business model to sell paddy straw and sugarcane trash in north Indian states like Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. Having clocked an annual revenue of Rs 25 lakh in 2019-2020, the founders are looking forward to expanding operations across India.
While the startup had earlier planned to expand their crop residue offering with corn straw, this has not been possible due to coronavirus-induced lockdown and social distancing.
More recently, the entrepreneur duo became part of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s initiative, “Cleaner air, Better Life”, which is a forum of business leaders formed to deliberate on the impact of air pollution.
The roadblocks
Aru says that having no connection to or prior knowledge of the farming market was the initial barrier. During their research, the founders came across several farmer producer organisations and reached out to them to understand any problems they may be facing. They also visited local kisan melas and exhibitions. Similarly, they visited and learnt the situation of power plants as well.
Aayushi shares that the sector was immature and at a nascent stage at the time and understanding stakeholders involved and bringing them together was quite challenging. “As we proceeded with market research, we understood a bit regarding operations and how to manage the entire supply chain,” she adds.
When they understood that most farmers did not want to go through the trouble of sorting the stubble into bales and found it easier to burn them, the duo requested them to call after harvesting so that they could take care of the residue. While many approached them, some were reluctant to do so and resorted to stubble burning.
As a startup in the supply chain market, lack of assistance from financial institutions regarding working capital was another challenge.
However, they are currently in the process of securing an undisclosed amount of seed funding from SSCBS Innovation and Incubation Foundation.
While Aayushi has seen several women entrepreneurs battle gender biases while starting up, she says she has been lucky not to face any such discrimination. Entrepreneurship, she believes is a roller coaster ride and one must learn to be patient throughout the journey.
Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan