New Delhi. To start a business, not only capital is required but a good idea is also necessary. With this one idea, a woman entrepreneur has created a turnover of Rs 100 crore. The interesting thing is that this has provided employment to thousands of garbage pickers and has also given strength to the ambitious schemes of the Central Government ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and ‘Make in India’.
Anita Ahuja and her husband Shalabh from Delhi are running this unique campaign. According to the news published by Kenfolios, they reuse plastic waste and make beautiful export quality products. Born in Bhopal and brought up in Delhi, Anita Ahuja, daughter of a freedom fighter, has devoted her entire life to the service of society. Let us know how she started a business of making beautiful things from waste…
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To do something new in life, he started working for garbage pickers
Seeing the plight of the garbage pickers, she decided to do something to improve their lives. So, she started a social enterprise under which she decided to collect plastic waste from the garbage pickers and make world-class handbags from it. She had no plans to enter business or do social service. With the aim of doing something new in life, she started working for the garbage pickers.
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NGO ‘Conserve India’ started collecting garbage
One day Anita, along with some of her friends and family members, decided to take up some small projects in her area. She started an NGO ‘Conserve India’ and under this project, she started collecting garbage from all over the area. The collected garbage was separated from the kitchen waste and was kept in a nearby park to make compost. In the beginning, she realized that nothing could be achieved alone, so Anita asked for support from other colonies as well. Her beginning was not to make money.
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Started working with Resident Welfare Association with 3000 people
The NGO Conserve India started a Resident Welfare Association with around 3000 people. This association became a full-time committed organisation with its own rights in 2002. After working with waste pickers for four years, Anita realised that their standard of living was below the poverty line. She decided to work towards improving the living standards of waste pickers. She gathered information on recycling technology from the internet and tried different things.
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First he did weaving and made carpets
At first she started weaving and making carpets. But these products looked very simple, involved a lot of labour, were not economically viable and were difficult to sell. Then she decided to develop plastic bags and this work worked well. She thought that first she would do artwork on plastic bags and then hold an exhibition and then try to raise money. Her husband realised that Anita’s plan would not work. Shalabh got large scale moulded plastic sheets made by machine. They would get artwork made on them by automated machines and then put them up for exhibition.
Got an order worth 30 lakhs in a small booth
In 2003, Conserve India participated in the trade fair at Pragati Maidan. The Ministry of Textiles gave them a small booth and they received an order worth Rs 30 lakh. Anita and Shalabh decided that they would take ownership of the company as buyers were not interested in taking orders directly from NGOs. For plastic waste, ragpickers had to go door-to-door to collect waste, but it was less in proportion and then special colored plastic was needed to make products. For this, they contacted junk dealers and also started ordering plastic waste directly from the industry. Gradually Conserve India became a brand. By the year 2020, the turnover reached Rs 100 crore.
Tags: Success Story, Successful businesswoman, Women’s Success Story
FIRST PUBLISHED : May 17, 2021, 17:54 IST