Bhopal: If you are drunk, this steering cover won’t allow you to drive

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): More than 3,000 entrepreneurs from the Dalit and the Adivasi communities from all over the country have gathered in the city for the “SC-ST Business Conclave & Expo” organised by DICCI (Dalit Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries). The day-long event was held at Ravindra Convention Centre here on Wednesday.  

Free Press talked with some of the young and bright entrepreneurs attending the meet about their innovations and how they converted them into business propositions.

Excerpts 

Nitesh Katare | FPJ

Talking steering cover

I have developed a steering wheel cover for cars with unheard-of features. First, it has biometric sensors and it will not allow any unauthorised person to drive your car. Second, it will start vibrating if your car comes too close to any vehicle. Third, if you are drunk, it will sense that and will warn you not to drive. ‘Nitesh mat chala gadi’, it would say in everyday Hindi. If you ignore the warning, it will send the GPS location of your vehicle to pre-fed mobile numbers, along with a message that you are driving despite being intoxicated so that your near and dear ones can take action.  I have applied for a patent on the product.

-Nitesh Katare, Y2K Futuristic Technology Limited, Bhopal

Maitreyee Kamble | FPJ

Mobile toilet for women

Around 70% of the populated area in the country doesn’t have a sewage system and depends on septic tanks for disposal of toilet waste. We have developed an app called Honeysucker which you can use to summon a septic tank cleaning vehicle. Also, we are providing clean washrooms to women through an initiative called TI (Toilet Integration) Bus. It is a pink bus with toilets, wash basins and a breastfeeding area exclusively for women.  

-Maitreyee Kamble, Swara Sanitation, TI (Toilet Integration) Bus (Pune)

Deepak Baghel | FPJ

Chucking cushy job

I come from the Bhil community. After completing my graduation in engineering from IIT, Bombay, in 2016, I got a job on a package of Rs 17 lakh per annum. But I wanted to do something for the people of my area and my community. In 2017, I launched an end-to-end consultancy for beekeeping. In the first year, my entire investment of Rs 15 lakh was lost.  Next year, my turnover was Rs 24 lakh. Now, it is around Rs one crore. My start-up is entirely self-funded. We provide equipment as well as technology for beekeeping which increases productivity.  

-Deepak Baghel, Consultant, Bee Keeping, Omkareshwar (MP)

Captain Ajay Singh (R) with his brother Caption Deepak Kumar | FPJ

Atmanirbharta in flight simulators

My brother and I both are commercial pilots. We have developed an indigenous flight simulator. So far, India imports flight simulators. Each unit costs around Rs 1.5 crore. And that is one reason why training to become a pilot is so costly. The charges for using simulators are around Rs 15,000 per person. An indigenous simulator would cost less than Rs 50 lakh and the hiring charges to Rs 2,000 per hour. That would enable people with limited means to fulfil their dream of becoming a pilot. I am also into manufacturing drones. So far, I have produced around 600 drones under the brand name Guru and Chaturbhuj in five different sizes.

-Captain Ajay Singh, Dronobotics Aviation Development, Bhopal

Aruna Dasari | FPJ

Plastic waste to flowerpots

I am a management graduate from Osmania University, Hyderabad. I launched my start-up in 2015. We basically recycle plastic waste to produce paving tiles, flowerpots, dustbins, buckets and a host of other items. You can ban single-use plastic but you cannot ban plastic entirely because there is no substitute for plastic. So, it is better to recycle it.

-Aruna Dasari, Ananya Group, Hyderabad

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