ABSTRACT SUBMISSION

We need to verify first, so that we can identify your Abstract Submission.

● Your Registered Mobile Number

7572058575_________________________________________
● Your Registered Email ID
unnatin.enactussxc@gmail.com________________________________________

Investors
Do you require seed funding? What is the reason for the requirement?

We require funding in general as of now. Being a social entrepreneurship venture, the question
of sharing equity doesn't come in. Though,we have completely bootstrapped this business,we
need the funding to provide the poor and the needy people filters at a lower cost or possibly free
of cost, expand our supply chain management and to expand our business in more districts and
possibly states. ________

What is the purpose of investment required?

The investment is required to provide the underprivileged with Shuddhi filters at a lower cost or
possibly free of cost, expand our supply chain management and to expand our business in more
districts and possibly states. In this way, we strive to make the maximum possible social impact
in terms of alleviating the plight of the underprivileged who aren’t capable of purchasing an
average RO filter.
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_

Are you looking for any special skillset from your investors?

Yes.________________________________________________________________________
________

If yes, what are they?

● We require investors who share our aim and vision for this project and realize that our
business is also for the betterment of society and not just personal profit.
● We need investors who are ready to associate and partner with us throughout the
journey of the project.
● We need investors who can provide us networking and connect us to people who can
help us expand.
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What value addition can they provide for your company besides money?

● Besides providing money, our investors could help us in establishing credibility for
Shuddhi. This would in turn help us market our product to a wider scale of people.
● Help us provide proper networking with people who can help us in various ways, in terms
of collaboration. ________________ _________________________________

Do you view them as someone just sharing equity or as a mentor?

We also consider our investors as our mentors and look forward to establish a long term
association with them.
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Do you have the ability to trust your investor? What is the level of transparency you expect to
have with your investor?

Trust is a two-fold aspect. If the investor is willing to trust us with his/her assistance in monetary
terms, expertise and networking, we have no reason to not trust him/her. We understand that
trust is the crux of any relationship and thus, we are ready to have complete transparency and
we expect the same from our investor.
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Industry
Who is your target audience/ target sector?

Our target sector comprises -

● Villages in the North-eastern region(especially West Bengal) of India - like Sonakhali,

Uluberia, Rishra, Hooghly district, Puruliya district, Laxmanpur, Raghunathpur to name a
few.
● NGOs and trusts - like Goonj Foundation, Hope Foundation and so on to associate with
us and sponsor the filters for the villagers or directly purchase the filters for their own
requirements.
● Manufacturing companies - like JSW Cement, JP Flour mills and so on to purchase the
filters for their workers.
● Companies which engage in CSR activities - Any donations made to us or any
purchases made from us is considered GST exempt and a CSR activity by the
Government of India.
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Why this Industry/Sector?

● Approx. 82% of 833 million rural population in India live without access to clean drinking
water.
● More than 7,80,000 people die due to water borne diseases in India.
● The Unemployment Rate in the rural areas of West Bengal stands at 47%.
● India ranked a low 120th out of 122 nations for its water quality.

We have recognised a problem in this industry : unavailability of potable water in the

North-eastern part of the country. The groundwater available is contaminated with arsenic and
fluoride which causes various fatal diseases. Although RO purifiers are available, they are not
affordable for the rural population.

In the light of this, there is a need to improve the water quality here so that people are not
deprived of water despite its abundance.

How do you plan to fill this void? How is it going to help the customers?

● Our filters use gravitational water purification technique to purify water. This prevents
essential minerals from getting removed, unlike the case of RO purifiers. It removes
arsenic and various other contaminants. This is how the problem of impure water gets
eliminated and every consumer has access to safe drinking water. Consuming pure
water from our filter will reduce the frequency of water borne diseases significantly.
● By using our filter, the person will incur a cost of Rs 83.3 a month (Rs 2.7 per day). An
average rural citizen of West Bengal currently spends around Rs 300 per month on
water. This significant reduction is cost is not only limited to water, but also medical
expenses, thereby increasing real income of the people.
● We also plan to have a beneficiary base consisting of locals from the villages. We plan to
employ at least one beneficiary for every 50 Kms we impact. The beneficiary will be from
the local village itself and will be given due training in jobs like inventory management,
accounting, customer relationships and marketing. Hence,this will increase the real
income of the rural people and lead to a higher standard of living and a better quality of
life.

____________________________________________________________________________

How will your target sector benefit from the idea

Our target sector majorly consists of villages and slums which have poor water quality.Our idea
benefits them in the following ways :
 ● Medical : The villagers suffer from various water borne diseases, without even realising.
Our Project helps spread awareness along with providing a solution that will help prevent
diseases in future generations. Shuddhi will ensure that the people of the lower strata of
the society lead a healthy life too.
● FInancial : We provide clean drinking water at a low price. While a water filter in the
market costs Rs. 1500 on an average, our filter is of Rs. 650. This when coupled with the
medical expenses of Rs 510 a month which the villagers incur , gives them a price rise of
Rs 1360.
● Social : The money that they save coupled with the health benefits brought to them, will
improve their standard of living along with a rise in their disposable income.
● Individual : The situation they once considered to be hopeless is being improved and we
believe that this inculcates hope within them and a spirit to solve their other problems.

____________________________________________________________________________

How closely involved are you with the targeted sector? What background study have you
conducted? Have you conducted any hypothesis testing or any other pilot testing of sorts to
strengthen your claims?

We have conducted several surveys in villages like Raghudevpur,Raghabpur,Rishra,Sonakhali

and Dhaniakhali to name a few. We had performed these surveys to determine the exact
problems faced by our target sector and the feasibility of the filters.

To strengthen our claims regarding the purity of water, we had independently tested the filters in
recognised labs to show the difference in the purity of water before and after the filtration.

We had a pilot run of our product and have sold 200 units in two months and are receiving more
orders. The results are quite welcoming and the people who are using our product are quite
satisfied and we're getting more and more orders as we proceed by the hour.
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Idea
Explain your idea in a clear and concise manner (max 50 words)

The idea behind Project Shuddhi was to provide a replacement for the unclean water currently
being consumed by the underprivileged sections of the society who cannot afford RO water
filters.​ We aim to minimize the water borne diseases by providing affordable, low-cost
filters.____ _________________________________________________________________

In case your idea is not selected, what is your plan B?

In such a situation, we plan to analyse the deviations in our project and improve upon our critical
point area where we’re lacking in. Necessary modifications will be made and we’ll present a
revamped version again in the following ​year.​___
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Explain your plan of action to proceed your idea further?

● Our plan of action is to cover the villages and slums of North-Eastern India like North 24
Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, Bankura,Puruliya and others. We will gradually
expand our operations in other areas as well.
● We'll be expanding our beneficiary base to do jobs like inventory management,
marketing, accounting and customer support. ___
● We'll be adding an alumina layer in our cartridge so that it removes arsenic, removal of
which will help prevent diseases like arsenicosis and improve the health index of the
rural
population._____________________________________________________________
_____________

Scope
Does your business idea incorporate or make way for any of the emerging trends in technology?

Project Shuddhi uses an uncommon Gravitational water filtration technique wherein water is
passed through 5 layers for purification along with the use of terafil candle, an ISO 10500
certified product, which is an emerging trend in technology.

How much involvement does technology hold in your idea? What are the opportunities it can
create?

As mentioned earlier, the filter uses gravitational water filtration technique. Our product is
neither too devoid of technology (just like the process of filtration of water by sedimentation and
decantation) nor is it too technical (just like the RO purifiers) . Thus, such a blend of technology
makes it perfectly suitable for our target market.

For the seed phase of the business, we plan to employ at least one beneficiary for every village
impacted for jobs like Marketing, Inventory Management and Customer services like
Maintenance. We realise that the rural people would not be qualified to do such jobs as soon as
they are employed. So, we plan to train them in such jobs and ultimately hand over the business
to them.​ ___________________________________________________________________

If we talk about sustainability of the business, how would you rank your business on a scale of
0-10?

We have identified that groundwater in West Bengal is contaminated with majorly arsenic,
fluoride and iron. These contaminants leads to detrimental diseases including cancer. Also, the
depth of the groundwater has been increasing exponentially on an annual basis leading to
higher magnitude of arsenic contamination.
Since, our filter majorly focuses on the purification of these harmful metals from water, we feel
that the need of the product will always be there and hence, we would give it a rating of 9.0 on
10.​__________________________________________________________________________

Where do you see your business by 2050 - flourishing or perished?

● 780 million people in this world do not have access to an improved water source. By
2050, Shuddhi will be present across the world. Everyone who lacks access to clean
drinking water will be in possession of it.
● Water problems are different for different areas. Our filter can be customised according
to the requirements at negligible cost. We also plan to diversify our product mix so that
every customer gets exactly what he/she wants. With effective management and rapid
expansion, our business will be flourishing by 2050.
● Since water problems are constantly on the rise, we'll always have a huge market for our
product, especially in the rural areas. With the increasing demand, it is unlikely that our
business will perish.

Competitor
Who are the major competitors you have identified?

The major competitors that we have identified are

● Kent
● Tata Swach
● Aquasure______________________________________________________________
______________

What is the USP of your idea that makes it better from the competition?

● Our product caters to the underprivileged sections of the society. It is an affordable means to
purify water and it's maintenance cost is minimal when compared to our competitors.
● Kent Gold is one such brand whose filter price is 1700 amd cartridge replacement cost is 627.
Having our filter sold at only Rs 650 gives us a huge economic benefit. The price which Kent Gold
charges just for the maintenance is almost equal to the Selling price of our filters.
● It prevents wastage of water during purification Filters like RO flushes down 19.8 litres of water
on every litre it produces. Hence, when one RO filter is replaced by a Shuddhi filter, we are
saving 19.8 liters for every litre of water consumed.
● The terafil candle is made of biodegradable wastes like Wood saw, clay, etc which makes it
beneficial for the environment.
● The product does not requires electricity to function and is also portable.
● Purifiers like RO remove essential natural minerals like sodium, iron, etc. during filtration and
also decreases the TDS level below 150 mg/ l. The cartridge in our filter is designed with such
 accurate levels of different minerals that the desired TDS level is maintained along with
retaining the useful minerals..

Does your competition have an advantage over you? If so, what are they and how do you plan
to overcome them?

Our competitors have an advantage of better branding over us.

● We are currently working to overcome it .We'll be launching a page soon on various

social media handles and will have an extensive branding campaign to spread the word.
Slowly and steadily, our product will develop a strong public image.
● We are conducting surveys in various districts in North-Eastern India. This has started to
create an awareness about our project and has also infused people to use it. A credible
image of our product is building up.

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What special features does your idea have to be able to compete and sustain?

● Our idea is cost effective. The low cost and high quality makes it an optimum fit for the
underprivileged.
● The cartridge is made of different layers of minerals and is susceptible to change. Every
passing day, the groundwater level is deepening which implies greater contact with
arsenic and sewer lines. So, A layer of alumina will be added in the cartridge to remove
the arsenic content. Similarly,we can incorporate other changes according to the future
requirements.

Hence,it is sustainable for the time to come.

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Innovation
What personal skillset do you hold other than business? How can you make use of those skills
to support your business?

We are a bunch of socially motivated people who wish to create an impact in the world. We are
visionaries with a resilient attitude.

We believe that we can use this skill set to grow our business in leaps and bounds and make it
reach great heights.
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 Country
What is your outlook of INDIA at present and your vision for the country? Explain in not more
than 100 words

Most regions of India do not lack water but the quality is deteriorating. Our vision for India is a
visionary’s agenda full of hopes and resolve to work towards it. Presently, the overall salinity of
the ground water and presence of high concentrations of fluoride, nitrate, iron, arsenic, total
hardness and few toxic metal ions have been noticed in large areas in several states of India.

There is also high unemployment and the quality of labour available is poor as most people are
illiterate. Water borne diseases are on the rise. There is an immediate need for a project like
ours.

How do you believe to cater to the country as a whole? What impact will it have with your idea
into implementation? What is your foresight?

The main reason for deepening of the groundwater is it's extensive wastage. As mentioned
above, there is negligible loss of water during it’s purification from our filters . We believe that we
can work to make good quality water available to every citizen of the country. The filters, being
so inexpensive and affordable will provide potable water to everyone.

The impact that our idea would have are -

● There will be a significant reduction in water borne diseases.

● Generation of employment will take place as we plan to transfer the business to the
beneficiaries ultimately. The quality of ​their labour will also increase overtime
● Extensive use of our filters by a large number of people would cut down their daily
expense on water and health. This will definitely ensure a rise in their Per Capita
Income.