India shining: Students turn ideas into profit

NEW DELHI: Art created out of discarded cloth earning a profit of Rs 1.5 lakh in a year; an LED bulb company named after a government school in Lajpat Nagar and earning a profit of Rs 85,000 while selling at less than the market price; a low-cost inverter for vendors and hawkers, helping them save on electricity costs. These were some of the ideas that Delhi government school students turned into profitable businesses.

These were part of the Business Blaster scheme, the practical component of the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum in the government schools, in which students are given seed money of Rs 2,000 to turn their ideas into businesses.

TOI caught up with some participants who showcased their projects at an exhibition at IIIT Delhi on Wednesday.

Shahid Ahmed started his business, called Shahid Art Creations, in 2022 with five other students of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, Pushp Vihar. Their pooled seed money of Rs10,000 has so far yielded Rs 1.5 lakh. Ahmed said: “My tailor father did not get enough business during the lockdown. I had just started painting and realised I could also use leftover pieces of cloth to create art. Now, we have hired 20 people, some of them school students, some from colleges, mostly those who are already studying art.” The artwork that Ahmed sells costs between Rs 2,000 and Rs18,000.

“I pay the artist on the basis of the effort put into the artwork, usually between 30% and 60% of the price of the piece. I dream of turning this business into a company,” said Ahmed, who is now studying applied art at Delhi Skills and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU).

The project named Brahmastra involved now-former students of Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar. Brahmastra is a mini inverter costing about Rs 2,500 and built to meet the needs of small shop owners or hawkers. Subhankar Yadav explained, “The vendors told us they spent around Rs 3,000 a month on lights that run on batteries. Our inverter can support a light of up to 200 watts and charges fully in 2-3 hours. We also give a six months’ warranty.” The group has so far sold 78 inverters, with each logging a profit of Rs 450.

A batch of Class XII commerce students from the same school has come up with LED bulbs that they named SHK Bulbs for their school. The 9-watt bulb sells for Rs 80 and a 12-watt one with an inbuilt battery for Rs 250. “Most of us in the team are from villages in Bengal and we suffer a lot from power cuts. So, we thought up the idea of a bulb that works when there is a power failure,” said Hriday Roy. Their own villages were the first markets for their products and the boys have so far earned Rs 85,000.

Some Business Blaster participants also had ideas for which they worked with the government. ‘Rainbow’, by students of Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Anand Vas, comprises a smart illuminated zebra crossing developed at an investment of Rs 14,000. The crossing which has to be embedded in the road is tagged at Rs 22,499. Sachin Roy, now studying at DSEU, said, “We have given the product to PWD for testing. We hope to be able to work with governments in the future.”