Set up with a vision to introduce cutting edge eco-friendly technologies to India, Greenassets.in, platform to promote sustainable investments in carbon reducing assets, is helping the world reduce the greenhouse gas emissions
The goal isn’t to live forever; the goal is to create something that will”. What better way than creating something for the environment for this? Striving in this direction is 33-year-old Romika Rai, founder and CEO of greenassets.in, who is working towards a carbon-neutral and sustainable, clean, and green environment.
Greenassets.in is a platform to promote sustainable investments in carbon reducing assets and help the world to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Started in August 2014, the startup is already making the right noise with its diverse environmentally conscious projects.
Set up with a vision to introduce cutting edge eco-friendly technologies to India, it is also dedicated to improving the lives of undeserved rural communities across the world. The company focuses on diverse range of issues such as climate change, environment, biodiversity preservation, water sustainability, and energy security. The goal is to empower local suppliers by connecting them directly with consumers, communities and technologies, thus bringing about positive change.
The company’s first pilot project in July 2015 was powering their own headquarters in Dehradun with a 5KW SolarMill system. Later, they joined hands with the state forest conservation department by installing 2.5KW hybrids at both Nainital and Tarai East divisional offices. According to Rai, the first year projects were centered on rural electrification and biodiversity preservation in Uttarakhand. They also did an 8-KW residential project in Jangalia Gaon (above Bhimtal) and one for the headquarters of the Uttarakhand Renewable Energy Development Authority (UREDA) as a test for community and utility scale projects.
In January 2016, Greenassets.in joined hands with two of the oldest residential schools of Mussoorie — Wynberg Allen School (founded in 1888) and St Georges College (founded in 1853) — to take care of their waste management needs. “The management wanted to address the issues of damage to the natural flora and fauna of the hillside, where for decades waste had drained down the mountain and into the river,” he explains. The administration decided to embrace a new “Invessel aerobic digester technology” that reduces the volume of kitchen waste by 90 per cent and converts it to nutrient rich organic compost. These institutions now responsibly recycle 400-500kg of kitchen and landscape waste per day.
Later, in April 2016, the company started design work on a 10-acre organic farm in Manduwala, and its future project plan is to create a hands-on vocational training institute for the local and neighboring communities to learn and adopt sustainable farming techniques.
The early spark
For Rai, who has always been environmentally conscious, the idea to start greenassets.in came when he was working with different insurance groups in Europe and was looking for investment opportunities. An experienced actuary and expert in financial risk management, Rai had seen how the world’s wealth was in the hands of few. The purpose was to invest in an asset which gives back to nature, is tangible, quantifiable, good for health, and also benefits the society at large.
He wanted to create an avenue where the life would be more economically-friendly, independent of government support. One such area was the energy sector with a great demand for power in the rural communities. “It is essential that utility providers look beyond resources such as coal, oil and gas when looking at how to power rural communities. Equally, they must ensure there is a move away from labour-intensive forms of energy, such as biofuels, which rely on people gathering materials to burn and, therefore restrict, their ability to contribute in other ways to a local economy,” says Rai.
Starting with an initial investment of Rs 50 lakh, Rai based his venture in Uttarakhand, his home state. Another reason was the state’s proactive energy policies, which are driven by the huge demand and supply gap in electricity production and its dependence on neighboring states for its energy requirements.
Creating an impact
The company works with social enterprises and “impact investors”, providing environmental stewardship and education on development using sustainable agriculture and clean energy as tools for progress.
Greenassets.in provides support in multiple forms, depending on the needs of the business and the impact they wish to achieve, ranging from areas such as funding, marketing, communications, seed funding, project implementation, functional expertise, co-product development, innovation, research and analysis and advocacy for sustainable investment projects and eco-friendly products. (The company defines “impact investment’ as any investment that addresses at least one of social, environmental or resource security challenges and generates a financial return.)
These impact investments span broadly in four industry categories, namely agriculture and forestry (working towards sustainable forestry, investing in organic farmland, food production and bio fuel plantations); renewable energy (Investing in renewable energy assets through ownership in clean energy producers, solar and wind farms and rooftop solar installations); clean technologies (Investing in clean technologies through ownership in eco-friendly products, alternatives to traditionally GHG-emitting or toxic products); and social infrastructure (Investing in social infrastructure assets through ownership in education and healthcare service providers and bulk drug manufacturers that have a significant impact on local community well-being).
The collective also runs an onsite eco-shop that offers eco-friendly products and provides information on living a healthy and balanced lifestyle without causing any harm to the environment. It markets over 100 solar appliances and also promotes 100 per cent organic products.
Way forward
According to Rai, the company already has a good structure in place, but now there is a need to significantly expand its hosting infrastructure, members interface, content publishing frequency and, most importantly, visibility through both online and offline campaigns and initiatives. While all these projects are at a pilot stage (testing and showcasing phase), he expects them to have a five to 10 times growth in the coming times with government subsidy in place.
His long term ambition is to create an online platform for individuals to invest in units of green assets such as wind/ solar farms and organic plantations. “Our goal is to reach 1 million members in two years, 10 million in five years, and 100 million in 10 years. Everyone works for the planet in whatever way they choose to do so. Together we can accelerate the move away from fossil fuels, petro chemical fertilizers and wasteful consumption. The members can plan projects, organize events, volunteer, collaborate and offer products and services - all having a positive impact on society and the environmental.”
The company also aims to start a large megawatt solar project (mainly a solar farm) for which it plans to raise 10 crore through IPO. “I see a bright future for the renewable energy in India,” says Rai before signing off.