On January 27, 2022, the centre launched the ‘Swachhata Startup Challenge’ in collaboration with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) for the promotion of an enabling environment to develop startups and entrepreneurs in the sector of waste management.
Applications have been received from startups in the domain of four thematic areas identified which are, social inclusion, zero dump, plastic waste management, and transparency, these will be evaluated to check the quality of solutions offered. The scheme offers the ten best solutions by the startups to be chosen and every selected project will be provided with the financial support of Rs 25 lakh and dedicated incubation support of one year. Additionally, with the Swachhata Startup Challenge, the government also launched the Swachh Technology Challenge in December 2021. According to the Swachh Technology Challenge guidelines, the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) have conducted the challenge and forwarded two best solutions to the State's post-evaluation of entries to select a maximum of three best entries. The ULBs in the country shall provide implementation support to the winners along with award money and State/City level felicitation. Furthermore, provisions are made under Swachh Bharat Mission or Urban 2.0 Guidelines for the encouragement of local innovations, cost-effective technology solutions, and business models for sanitation and solid waste management by several startups via investment in Research and Design (R&D) and facilitation in the Government e-Market portal. Image Source
