Seventy Six (76) start-ups have been onboarded under the ‘India Water Pitch-Pilot-Scale Start-Up Challenge’ by the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) at an event in New Delhi today. The shortlisted start-ups will be provided financial support of up to ₹ 20 lakh each to work in the fields of water supply, used water management, water body rejuvenation and ground water management etc., said Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Union  Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA).   Shri Kaushal Kishore, Minister of State for MoHUA,  Shri Manoj Joshi (Secretary MoHUA),  Ms. D.Thara(Additional Secretary) and other dignitaries were present during the event.

The start-ups have been shortlisted by the Ministry through a challenge process launched in March, 2022 under AMRUT 2.0 Mission. In this regard, a ‘Startup Gateway’ has also been launched wherein the start-ups can apply and be shortlisted by MoHUA for financial support.

During the event, the Ministry also launched a Toolkit for ‘Pey Jal Survekshan’ in 485 cities. Pey Jal Survekshan, under the Jal Jeevan Mission, will assess cities with respect to the quality of water and the quality of water delivery to the citizens, along with sewerage, septage management, grievance redressal, water body conservation, ground water management etc.

The event also witnessed the awarding of 25 best photographs from the photography competition of the MoHUA, with an award of ₹ 10,000 each. The competition was conducted for students by the Ministry under ‘Mission Amrit Sarovar’ to spread awareness among masses about conservation of water bodies.

Later during the event, a portal Urban Waterbody Information System (UWaIS) was also launched with help from National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad. The portal will provide satellite images of water bodies to various cities to plan their rejuvenation. 219 cities have been handed over UWaIS dossiers of water bodies during the event.

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RJ/RK